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CAMPBELL'S 



Complete Guide and Descriptive Book 



MEXIC 




a.349-(X 



By REAU CAMPBELL 



CHICAGO 
1895 



Copyright, 1S95, by Reau Campbell. 



POOLE BROS. PRESS, 
CHICAGO. 



J. IM.^NZ & CO., ENGRAVERS, 






PHOTOGRAPHS BY . 

W. H. JACKSON, DENVER. 
ROCHESTER CAMERA CO'S POCO. 



PR&Ff\G& 



TT is the early traveler in a country who knows the real need of a guide 

and descriptive book, from the fact that his journeys are made, perforce, 
without one, and he is compelled to find the places and things as best he can. 

To find these places and things, of which one may have only heard, is not unat- 
tended by difficulties. The native does not always regard them as out of the 
ordinary, or of special interest, and, however courteous and willing he may be, is not 
always able to show the way to objects of even considerable importance. 

I have known these difficulties as an early traveler in Mexico, and, while I 
rejoiced in seeing what others had not seen, I have wished for the book that might 
guide me over untraveled roads, till I have come to believe that he who writes the 
book leaves a legacy to him who comes after. 

The Guide and Descriptive Book of Mexico is written after the experiences 
of a decade of travel in that country, which have given a knowledge of its cities 
and towns, of its mountains, valleys and spreading plains, and of its history and 
legend, impossible from reading or hearsay. 

The Historical and Clerical data have been carefully culled from the best 
authorities and from the records of Church and State. 

The Legends are from the country's books and from the fascinating folk-lore 
of its people. 

Statistical and tabulated information is compiled from the latest data and 
from the most reliable sources. 

The Maps are from the latest surveys, comprising the extension of railways 
and routes of travel to the year of the date of the book. 

The Descriptions have been written under the spell; in the presence of an 
atmosphere of romantic adventure ; during the loiterings in the fields of the 
Conquest; under the shadows of ruined temples, whose describing by the ancient 
chronicler suffices, and of which no more^is known to-day than then, when it was 



written by him that those temples were, " the w^ork of a people which had passed 
away, under the assaults of barbarism, at a period prior to all traditions, leaving 
no name, and no trace of their existence save those monuments, which, neglected 
and forgotten by their successors, have become the riddle of later generations." 

The Illustrations are from photographs taken during a tour in the early 
months of the year 1894, and engraved directly from those photographs, without 
redrawing. The tour of exploration was made for the express purpose of the 
publication of a guide and descriptive book, that should guide and describe for 
the traveler or reader of Mexico. 

Every date and place of the story of Mexico, from the Grand River of the 
North to Tehuantepec, is noted compactly and with all the accuracy possible. 
Every city and town of note which has been written of elsewhere has its place 
here; there are some not found in other books which are in these pages, 
and none are more important or more interesting than the pre-historic Ruins 
of Mitla, visited first by my exploring expedition of 1894, and which are here 
written of for the first time since the earlier chronicles of the country. 

To the courteous citizens of the country 1 traveled in, to the strangers of 
America, England, France, Spain and Germany abiding there, to the Railway 
officials especially, and to my co-travelers and explorers I am indebted; to the 
expert artists of the engravers craft, and of the art preservative, who have 
made a culmination so devoutly wished, I am deeply grateful. 

REAU CAMPBELL. 
Chicago, January i, 1895. 



CONTENTS 



GEOGRAPHICAL— Rivers— Lakes— Harbors— Mountains— Table-lands 
— Seaports — Agriculture — Forests — Mines and Mining — Manufac- 
tures — Climate — Railroads — Steamer Lines 7 

HISTORICAL — The Toltecs and Aztecs — Conquest by Cortez — Viceroys 
— Independent Mexico — Empire of Iturbide — Laws of the Reform — 
Revolutions — American War — French Intervention — Administra- 
tion of Diaz 17 

PRACTICAL MATTERS— Railway Tickets— Baggage and Customs Regu- 
lations — Money — Measures and Distances — Climate — Clothing — Cabs 
and Carriages— Horse Cars — Hotels and Restaurants — Stores and 
Shopping — Cigars and Tobacco — Police and Military — Doctors and 
Medicines — Cargadores — Church Visiting — Postoffice — Express Ser- 
vice — Telegraph — Baths — Servants — Dulces — Streets — Customs and 
Costumes — Official Permits — Laundry 29 

AMUSEMENTS— Theatre Principal— Theatre Nacional— Arbeu Theatre- 
Salon de Conciertos — Circo-Teatro Orrin — Bull Fights 41 

THE CITY OF MEXICO— Tenochtitlan— Chronology— Founding by the 
Mexicans — Reign of Montezuma — Entrance by Cortez — Siege by the 
Spaniards — Founding by Revillagigedo — City Government — Markets 
— Flower Markets — Portales — National Palace — Mint — National 
Library — School of Arts — National Museum — Cathedral — First Parish 
Church — Churches — Religious Orders — Jesuits — Inquisiton — Schools 
and Colleges — Hospitals — Alameda — Paseos Calzadas — Aqueducts — 
Monuments — Monte Piedad — Plazas — Newspapers — Streets — Pante- 
ones 47 

AROUND THE CAPITAL— Chapultepec—Molino del Rey—Tacubaya— 
Mixcoac — San Angel — Coyoacan — Tlalpam — Noche Triste — Tacuba 
— Atzcapatzalco — La Piedad — LaViga Canal — The Paseo — Desierto 
— San Juan Teotihuacan — Tlalnepantla — Tajo de Nochistongo — Gua- 
dalupe — Los Remedies 75 



CITIES AND TOWNS OF MEXICO — Acambaro — Aguas Calientes— 
Amecameca — Catorce — Celaya — Chihuahua — Cordoba — Cuautla — 
Cuernavaca — Durango — Guadalajara — Guanajuato — Irapuato — 
Jalapa — Lagos — Leon — Lerdo — Maravatio — Monclova — Morelia — 
Oaxaca — Ruins of Mitla — Orizaba — Pachuca — Patzcuaro — Puebia— - 
Pyramid of Cholula — Oueretaro — Saltillo — Salvatierra — San Luis 
Potosi — San JNIiguel de x-Yllende — Silao — Tampico — Texcoco — Tlax- 
cala — Toluca — Tula — Vera Cruz — Yautepec — Zacatecas 89 

RAILWAY RIDES IN MEXICO— South over the Central— Westward to 
Guadalajara — Eastward to Tampico — Eastward over the Mexican 
Railway — Westward over the International — Eastward over the Inter- 
oceanic — South over the National — Westward from Acambaro — The 
Mexican Northern Railway — South over the Southern — South over 
the Mexico, Cuernavaca & Pacitic — The Michoacan & Pacific — The 
Monterey & Mexican Gulf Railroad — South over the Sonora Rail- 
way — The Tehuantepec Railway — Hidalgo Railway — Mexican 
National Construction Company 171 

THE UNITED STATES OF MEXICO— Names of States— Capitals- 
Area — Assessed Values — Population — Government — Taxes 227 

LOCATION, POPULATION AND ALTITUDES 228 

HOTELS AND RESTAURANTS 229 

STREET CAR LINES 232 

MAP, AROUND THE CAPITAL 233 

TABLE OF TERMS 234 

CHRONOLOGICAL 245 

MAPS 257 




Geographical. 



Between the Pacific Ocean on the west, the Gulf of Mexico on the east, the 
United States on the north and Guatemala on the south, lies the Repub- 
""• lie of Mexico, extending from the 15th to the 32d degree of north 
latitude, and from the 86th to the ii6th degree of longitude west 
\ from Greenwich. From north to south the length is nearly 2,000 
" ^ miles; from east to west about 800 at the widest part, with 
I an area of 772,652 square miles. Along the Gulf coast the 
' low ground extends a distance into the interior, called the 
— I tierra caliente,ox hot land; then it rises in ter- 
races to the table-lands called the tierra tem- 
plada, temperate land, and still to the regions of 
liigher elevation, to the tierra fria, or cold land. 
In the tierra calie7ite it is summer always; in the 
tierra teviplada eternal spring; in the tierra fria 
it is rarely cold enough for snow or ice. 
It is an erroneous idea that it is not safe or pleasant to travel in Mexico in 
summer; m the interior the summer time is the most delightful. The only 
difference between summer and winter is that it rains in the summer and does 
not in the winter. The altitude, the showers, the cooling breezes from the snow 
mountains make a perfect summer climate, and a healthful one. Fevers peculiar 
to the tropics are known only in the hot lands of the coast, and never experienced 
on the elevated table-lands. The mean temperature of the hot lands is about 
80°; of the interior table-lands, as in the capital and principal cities, ']o°, and the 
higher elevations 60°. A more perfectly delightful climate is hardly possible to 
imagine, and possibly exists in few other countries. 

Rivers — The rivers of Mexico are more dignified by the appellation than from 
the amount of water flowing within their banks. They are little more than creeks, 
but as to length they are entitled to be called rivers. With the exception of the 
Rio Panuco, and one or two others, the rivers of Mexico are not navigable, and 
then only for a short distance from their mouths. The lack of tributaries, and 
the immense amount of water drawn off for irrigating purposes, is the reason 
given for the small size of the streams. For the most part they are, during the 



winter, but straggling brooks, but in the rainy season become raging torrents. 
The Lerma is the longest river in Mexico, running its whole length within 
that country, being nearly 700 miles long. The Rio Grande, which rises in the 
United States, is over 1500 miles long. The Panuco, at Tampico, is a beautiful 
stream, navigable some score of miles or more through a tropical country, the banks 
fringed with that verdure so often described by travelers in the tropics. The 
navigation of these few miles of deep water in Mexico is to be one of the attrac- 
tions for tourists in that section. The jetties at the mouth of the Panuco make 
the harbor at Tampico one of deep water. 

The Rio Lerma rises on the west slope of the Sierra Madres, not far from 
Toluca, and runs in a northwesterly course till it empties into Lake Chapala, and, 
curiously enough, leaves the lake again, only a few miles from its mouth, and 
becomes another river, the Santiago, flowing on to the Pacific Ocean. The Mex- 
ican National Railroad crosses the Lerma near its source, east of Toluca, and at 
Acambaro, running along its course between the two points. The Central crosses 
it, or the Santiago, as it is called after passing through Lake Chapala, just east of 
Guadalajara, and also follows along the valley for some miles before reaching 
Lake Chapala. Humboldt said that the Lerma could be made a navigable river, 
and he also said he could drive a carriage on the table-lands from the capital to 
El Paso; in either case there would be 
many ups and downs to be encountered. 
The Santiago, or Lerma, empties into 
the Pacific near San Bias. The river at 
Morelia, along which the National Rail- 
road runs near that city, is called the 
Morelia River, though there are other 
names. The Grijalva River, named 
for the commander of the Spanish fleet, 
who was the first white man who ever 
saw it, rises in Guatemala, and empties 
into the Gulf at Frontera. The Rio 
Uzumacinta also has its source in Gua- 
temala, and empties into the Gulf at 
Frontera. The Rio Balsas, also called 
Mescala and Zacatula, rises in the State 
of Tiaxcala arid flows westward, and empties into the Pacific at Zacatula. The 
Papaloapan rises in the mountains and empties into the Gulf at Alvarado. The 
Rio Coatzacoalcos rises in Oaxaca and empties into the Gulf at the town of the 
same name. Atoyac is a favorite name for rivers; there are several of them in the 
States of Puebla and Vera Cruz. 

The Rio Nazas is one of the rivers that loses its waters in the marshes of the 
great Bolson de Mapimi. The Sonora, Yaqui and Mayo rise in the mountains of 
western Mexico and empty into the Gulf of California. 

Lakes — The lakes of Mexico are of exceeding great beauty. Than those of 
Chapala and Patzcuaro no prettier waters are anywhere in the world — not even 
the romantic Como, the tales of whose beauties are so eloquently told, can surpass 
their islands and wooded shores, and only the villas are lacking to make them as 
picturesque as Como or Killarney. Lake Patzcuaro is the highest navigable water 
on the continent, being some thousands of feet greater altitude than Chautauqua 
of New York, that so long enjoyed that reputation. The islands look like the 
peaks of submerged mountains with only the tops above the water; on their 
rugged sides, seeming to cling to them, are some huts of the fishermen of the 
lake, and up near the top of one the square white tower of a church rises above 
the trees, the sonorous sounds of whose bell floats over the waters. 




A WAYSIDE SHRINE. 



There are canoes for freight and passengers, and a few rude sail boats making 
voyages between Patzcuaro and the islands and mainland ports up the lake, and to 
Tzintzuntzan, where the celebrated picture of Titian is, in a ruined church. Lake 
Patzcuaro is near the city of that name on the western division of the Mexican 
National Railroad; it is about thirty miles long and twelve miles wide. 

Lake Cuitzeo is also on the same division of the National, thirty miles west of 
Acambaro, the junction point with the main line. Lake Cuitzeo is forty-five miles 
long and ten wide. The islands are very much like those in Lake Patzcuaro; 
some of them are inhabited. One, " La Isla de los Burros," is the objective point 
of a very interesting voyage from the station at Querendaro, where canoes may 
be obtained. The island is inhabited by a hardy tribe of Indian fishermen, who 
know httle of the main land, and care less — a happy, contented lot, living off of 
what they can catch, the little white fish about the size of a minnow or whitebait, 
which, when they are dried in the sun, are ready for the table, if there was one 
on the island. The lake is literally alive with water fowl, and so unused to the 

gun that many a good shot may 
be had. On the eastern shore 
there are some old salt works, 
and near the station of Que- 
rendaro some hot springs, the 
steam rising from the marsh in 
white columns. Near the track, 
where one of the largest springs 
rises, is a pool so arranged that 
the waters can be turned in or 
out, as the water may be too 
cold or hot. On the bushes, on 
the trees, on the rocks, and 
stuck in the ground, are rude 
crosses made of sticks and 
twigs, left there by grateful 
bathers whose ills have been 
cured by the genial waters. 

Lake Chapala is the largest 
lake in Mexico. It is nearly a 
loo miles long and is thirty-three 
miles at the widest point. It is 
RAILWAY CONSTRUCTION GAMP, MEXICAN SOUTHERN RAILROAD. on the Guadalajara division of 
the Mexican Central Railway near the city of that name. The station of La Barca 
is at the head of the lake. The River Lerma empties into Lake Chapala, and the 
same river under another name, Santiago, but some authorities use the same 
name, is the outlet. 

" Libertad " was the name of Lake Chapala's first steamboat. She ran from La 
Barca to the towns and villages up the lake, and the voyage was one of the most 
delightful in Mexico, through the " floating islands " to the towering cliffs with 
sparkling cascades tumbling into the lake from far up the rocks, by the pictur- 
esque towns and villages, of which the town of Chapala is a resort of ancient 
renown, from its pure and healthful climate, its hot springs and most pictur- 
esque scenery. 

The steamer " Libertad " had her machinery built in California, and was trans- 
ported by piecemeal on burros over the mountains from San Bias. 

In the Bolson de Mapimi are several lakes, of which Mayran and Parras are 
the largest — twenty to thirty miles long by ten to fifteen wide. In the Valley of 
Mexico and near the City are Zumpango, Xaltocan and San Cristobal on the north. 




10 

Lake Texcoco on the east and Xochimilco and Chalco on the south, La ^'iga and 
the other canals connecting them with the City. All are very shallow and with- 
out an outlet, except what may result from the great drainage ditches and tunnels. 

The steamboat has not made its advent on the lakes of the Plain of Mexico; 
transportation is carried on by long flat-bottom boats propelled by poles in the 
hands of strong men. There are regular packets between the City and the towns 
and villages on the lake shores, some of them of capacity for fifty or sixty pas- 
sengers, and where voyages cover many miles and two or three days' time, they 
have accommodations for eating or sleeping in the most primitive style. The pas- 
sengers are mostly country folk bringing their wares or garden truck to the city 
markets. The burros and dogs lend their presence to make up a picturesque 
ship's company. 

Cortez came across Texcoco in some such flat-bottom boats from the eastern 
shore when he laid siege to tne City of Mexico ; but there was deeper water in those 
days, and the feat was not without its merits. 

Mountains — To describe or even name them would be to write over all the 
face of the country. Ask a native, "What mountains are those?" His answer — 
no matter where he is or where the mountains are — is " Las Madres." There 
seems to be no other name except certain peaks here and there, that take names 
from their fantastic shape, curious color, or from an incident of history or legend, 
as Lxtaccihuatl is the "White Woman;" Malintzi, called " Malinche," was named 
from an appellation of La Marina, the guide, interpreter and wife of Cortez. La 
Bufa, at Zacatecas, is so called from the resemblance of the rocky crest to a 
Buffalo. There is no mistaking the Saddle Mountain at Monterey, as a perfect 
saddle is on its crest; and so all over this country are mountains and romance. 

Above ranges high peaks are raised to the line of perpetual snow, and vol- 
canoes still throw out fire and brimstone. The following are the most important: 

Ajusco, Federal District 13-612 

Cerro de Culiacan, State of Guanajuato 10,640 

Cerro del Proano, State of Zacatecas 7,762 

Cerro de Patamban, State of Michoacan 12,290 

Cofre de Perote, or Nauchampatepetl, State of Vera Cruz. 13,403 

Cumbre de Jesus Maria, State of Chihuahua 8,230 

Gigante, State of Guanajuato 10,653 

Ixtaccihuatl, States of Mexico and Puebla 16,060 

Las Navajas, State of Hidalgo 10,528 

Los Llanitos, State of Guanajuato. 11,013 

Matlalcueyatl, or Malintzi, State of Tlaxcala 13.462 

Nevado de Colima, State of Jalisco 14,350 

Nevado de Toluca, or Xinantecatl, State of Mexico 15,000 

Orizaba, or Citlaltepetl, State of Vera Cruz 17.356 

Pico de Quinceo, State of Michoacan 10,895 

Pico de Tancitaro, State of Michoacan 12,653 

Popocatepetl, States of Mexico and Vera Cruz 17,782 

Veta Grande, State of Zacatecas 9.965 

Volcan de Colima, State of Jalisco 12,728 

Zempoaltepec, State of Oaxaca 1 1,965 

Table-lands — The plains of Mexico vary in extent from a score of square 
miles to many thousands; they are arid and they are fertile, they are as a desert 
and as a marsh. The Bajio, in the State of Guanajuato, is a very fertile district well 
watered, and near to it the Cazadero (hunting place), in Queretaro, a district of 
grazing. The Plains of Apam are noted for the growth of the maguey and its 
production of pulque; on one side of these fertile lands is the arid Plain of San 



11 



Juan; to the north and east, just on the edge of the terrace, are great marshes 
almost covered with water. In the State of San Luis Potosi a desert extends 
from a few miles north of the capital nearly to Saltillo. In the States of Coahuila, 
Durango and Chihuahua are the lagoons and marshes of the Bolson de Mapimi. 

The Coast is almost 



t 




GLIMPSE OF OAXACA. 



devoid of harbors and 
safe roadsteads except 
at Tampico, where the 
mouth of the Rio Panuco 
has been jettied over a 
thousand feet out into the 
Gulf. The outward scour 
of the river cleans the 
sands from the bar, af- 
fording an entrance for 
the largest ships and a 
safe harbor large enough 
for all purposes. At Vera 
Cruz ships anchor op- 
posite the city and dis- 
charge cargoes and 
passengers by lighters; 
harbor improvements are 
being made. At Coatza- 
coalcos, the Gulf termi- 
nus of the Tehuantepec 
Railway, a deep water 
harbor will be provided, 
as the physical advantages of the port are capable of great improvement by jetties. 
On the Pacific Coast the harbor of Salina Cruz, near Tehuantepec, will be im- 
proved for the entrance of big ships. 

At Acapulco is one of the finest harbors in the world; at Manzanillo, Mazatlan, 
San Bias and Guaymas are very fine harbors. The mountains on this coast are 
washed by the sea while on the Gulf are wide expanses of lowlands with the hills 
farther to the interior. 

Agriculture and Forests — The lands of Mexico, with its diversified climate, 
grow the vegetable products of the world — corn, wheat, rye and barley, of the 
temperate zone, on the uplands ; sugar cane, coffee, the finest in the world, 
vanilla, cotton, indigo, tobacco, jalap and cocoa in the hot lands, while every 
variety of cactus produces something of use, from the fibre of the ixtle to the 
pulque of the maguey. In the forests are all the hardwoods, mahogany, rosewood, 
ebony, as well as the oak, pine and cedar of less value. In a great extent of 
country, in the interior, wood of any kind is scarce, and timbers for manufacturing 
purposes are freighted from distant points. The possibilities for agricultural 
improvement are unbounded. 

Mines and Mining — This subject may be treated in one word, silver. It is 
everywhere, in every state, in every hill and mountain. It is probable that the 
total production of silver in Mexico, since the opening of the mines to date, would 
reach $4,000,000,000. Gold exists in small quantities. It is a curious fact that 
the ornaments found by the Spaniards in the houses of the native kings and nobles 
were all of gold; silver was hardly mentioned among the trophies taken to 
Spain. There is little iron, except at Durango, where there is a mountain of it 
that is from 75 to 90 per cent, of pure metal. Coal of fair quality is mined exten- 
sively. Lead there is, and some copper ; also quicksilver, cinnabar, salt, bismuth, 



12 



alum, asphalt, naphtha and petroleum ; sulphur is taken in huge blocks — pure 
sulphur from the crater of Popocatepetl. 

Manufactures — Mexico has advanced wonderfully in manufactures in the 
last decade, till, within herself, she could supply all wants of her people without 
the imports from the outside world, could clothe them from head to foot, feed 
them, give them wine to drink and houses to live in. Statistical information as 
to manufactures is not expected here. The percentage of increase is not easily 
calculated. The advance has been from the primitive hand loom of reeds to the 
factory of the most improved machinery. The lack of the important factor of 
fuel will necessarily relegate the manufactories to the timbered regions, or to the 
line of the water-powers of the country, where fuel is not needed. The forests 
are for the most part in remote sections and in the hot lands. Coal is not yet 
mined in sufficient quantities, though it exists in many parts of the Republic, and 
there are evidences of petroleum. 

The water-powers have never been utilized to their fullest capacity, and there 
are great possibilities in this direction, as at Juanacatlan, near Guadalajara, where 
a wide river makes a sheer fall of seventy-one feet. This immense power is 
almost wasted. It is used only for an electric light plant, and a mill that is idle 
the most of the time. 

Carpets and woolen cloths are made at Soria, near Celaya, at Salvatierra, and 
several other points ; calicoes and cotton goods in the Federal District and in 
many of the larger cities ; blankets and zerapes at Durango, Saltillo, San Miguel 
de Allende, Aguas Calientes, Guadalajara and San Luis Potosi ; saddles, bridles, 
shoes and leather goods at Leon, Maravatio and the City of Mexico ; cigars and 
cigarettes at Vera Cruz, the City of Mexico, and the larger cities ; breweries are 
at Monterey and Toluca ; foundry and rolling mill near the iron mountain at 
Durango. Chihuahua and 
Monterey are the largest 
manufacturing centres of 
the country; the factories 
include almost every 
branch of trade. Smelters 
and reduction works for 
getting out silver are 
located in all the great 
mining towns. Sugar mills 
are in the cane country, 
but as yet the refineries 
are very few. Crockery 
and pottery are made at 
Puebla, Guadalajara, and 
in very many smaller towns 
and villages. The onyx of 
Puebla is famous for its 
delicate beauty. It is 
manufactured into very 
handsome ornaments and 
used extensively in the 
manufacture of tops for 
stands and tables, altars, 
fonts, etc., for shrines and churches 
industries, but growing very rapidly. 

Railroads — The Mexican Railway was the first completed line in Mexico. 
It extends from Vera Cruz to the City of Mexico, 263 miles, passing through a 




SAN JUAN VALLEY, MEXICAN SOUTHERN RAILROAD. 

All of Mexico's manufactures are infant 



13 

very rich region, both in the tropics and the table-lands. Cordoba and Orizaba 
are the principal cities in the tier^-a caliente. The line is famous the world over 
for the beauty of its scenery, and that between Maltrata and Esperanza is beauti- 
ful beyond all description. From Esperanza the line runs through a succession 
of fertile plains; the most noted are the famous pulque Plains of Apam. The tram- 
road from Tejeria to Jalapa has been abandoned. A tramway extends from 
Esperanza to Tehuacan. A branch from Apizaco to Puebla and from Ometusco 
to Pachuca. 

The Mexican Central Railway from El Paso, Texas, crossing the Rio 
Grande to the old town of Paso del Norte, now called the City of Juarez, runs 
almost due south 1224 miles to the City of Mexico. Passing the cities of Chihua- 
hua, Jimenez, Lerdo, Fresnillo, Calera, Zacatecas, Aguas Calientes, Lagos, Leon, 
Silao, Irapuato, Salamanca, Celaya, Queretaro and Cazadero on the main Ime. 

Torreon is the junction point with the International Railroad. From Aguas 
Calientes a branch line extends to San Luis Potosi and Tampico. From Silao a 
branch runs to Guanajuato. From Irapuato a line runs west to Guadalajara. At 
Celaya the main line crosses the Mexican National Railroad. From Tula a branch 
extends to Pachuca. 

The ride over the Mexican Central is an interesting one, both as to main line 
and branches — varied in valley and mountain scenery, broad plain and rocky 
chasm; and the going and returning schedules should be arranged so that part of 
the line passed at night southward should be traveled in daylight going north. 

It is impossible to enumerate the points of interest; they are in almost every 
mile. The most important are: the view of Chihuahua on the west side; San Pedro 
Bridge; Bolson de Mapimi on the east side; approach to and passing of Zacate- 
cas and Guadalupe, seen from the east windows; Barranca de La Eincarnacion; 
approach to Lagos and Leon; Irapuato for strawberries and Celaya 'iox dulces, 
both every day in the year; Queretaro for opals; and just south of the city the 
road passes under the great stone aqueduct of the city's water supply and into a 
fine valley, and afterwards to the Plain of the Cazadero to Lena, the point of 
highest altitude, 8,140 feet. At Tula are the ruins of Toltec temples; the road, 
continuing, runs through a beautiful valley to the great Nochistongo Canal, seen 
on the west side. From Huehuetoca may be obtained the first view of the great 
volcanoes of Popocatepetl and Ixtaccihuatl, and the plain, valley and City of Mexico. 

The scenery on the line from San Luis to Tampico, is unsurpassed in Mexico, 
and the branch roads to Guadalajara and Guanajuato are rich in scenic beauty. 

The Mexico, Cuernavaca & Pacific Railway extends fifty miles from the 
City of Mexico to Cuernavaca, with an ultimate destination on the Pacific Coast. 
The road crosses the broad plain of the Valley of Mexico, passing historic points, 
Molino del Rey, Chapultepec, Padierna and Contreras. The scenic beauty of the 
line, as it passes up the hills on the southern border of the plain, is magnificent. 

The Mexican International Railroad enters the Republic of IVIexico at 
the city of Porfirio Diaz, crossing the Rio Grande from Eagle Pass, Texas, and 
runs 383 miles westward to its junction with the Central at Torreon. Connection 
is made at Trevifio for Monterey. The principal cities and towns are Monclova, 
Jaral and Paila; near the latter are the famous vineyards of Parras. The road 
skirts the southern border of the Bolson de Mapimi, and all along the line are fine 
views of mountain scenery, making the ride an interesting one. 

After Torreon the road enters the San Juan Valley, and extends, southwesterly, 
157 miles across the plains, over a fine roadway to the beautiful city of Durango. 

The Mexican Interoceanic Railroad has its main line from the City of 
Mexico to Vera Cruz, and is under construction to Acapulco on the Pacific Coast, 
On the eastern division the principal points of interest are Texcoco, Puebla, Perote, 
Jalapa and Vera Cruz. On the western division are La Compahia, Tialmanalco, 



14 



Amecameca, Ozurnba, Napantla, Cuautla and Yautepec. The scenery is pleasing 
beyond description; the great volcanoes are in full view for many miles, in fact 
scarcely out of sight during the entire journey. Leaving Mexico, the road passes 
alono" the shores of Lake Texcoco, seen from the east windows, while Lake 
Xochimilco and Chalco can be seen from the other side. At Los Reyes is the 
junction of the east and west lines. On the east line the points of interest are the 
Hacienda of General Gonzales — Texcoco — Molino de Flores — the Arcos de Zem- 
poala, an aqueduct thirty-seven miles long, with arches nearly loo feet high— the 
pulque Plains of Apam, Puebla, Pyramid of Cholula, Volcano of Orizaba, Perote 
and beautiful Jalapa. 

On the west line the interesting points are Amecameca, the nearest view of 
Popocatepetl and Ixtaccihuatl, Sacro Monte, Nepantla, Cuautla and Yautepec, 
Hacienda de Santa Inez and many others. 

The Mexican National Railroad has its northern terminus at Laredo, 
Texas, Nuevo Laredo being the city in Mexico on the opposite bank of the Rio 
Grande. The hne runs in a southwesterly direction, 840 miles, to the City of 
Mexico, passing the cities of Monterey, Saltillo, Catorce, San Luis Potosi, San 
Miguel de Allende, Ceiaya, Salvatierra, Acdmbaro, Maravatio and Toluca 
on the main line. 

At Monterey the road crosses the Monterey & Mexican Gulf Railroad. At 
Vanegas connection is made with the Vanegas, Matehuala & Rio Verde Railroad. 
At San Luis Potosi is the crossing of the Tampico division, and at Ceiaya the 
main line of the Mexican Central. Acambaro is the junc- 
tion of the western division for Morelia and Patzcuaro. 
At Maravatio connection is made with the 
Michoacan & Pacific. At Tacuba is the 
junction of the El Salto branch. 

All roads lead to the capital, and all 
have their points of interest. These are 
not lacking on the National, and daylight 
schedules are to be chosen whenever it is 
possible. To be especially noted are the 
following: the beautiful Monterey Valley, 
the City, Saddle Moun- 
tain, Mitre Mountain, 
Bishop's Palace, o \ 
the east side; the ride 
through the cafions to 
Saltillo; on the east 
side see the mountain 
peak with a hole m 
the top, as if made 
with a monster can- 
non shot; Hacienda 
Ramos Arispe and 
approach to Saltillo; 
battleheld of Buena 
Vista, just south of Saltillo; 
Catorce, station for the great 
mining town of the same name; Bocas, with 
its beautiful hacienda (on the east side) and village; San Luis Potosi'. on the west 
side; Dolores Hidalgo, once the home of the patriot priest; San Miguel de Allende, 
the city on the hill, seen from the east windows; the cafion and valley of the Laja; 
the cotton mills at Soria; canon near Maravatio; canon of the Zopilote, south of 





TRAVELING 



15 





Solis, where is shown the rock of El Salto de Juan Medina, where the famous 
bandit leaped his horse from the top to the chasm below, rather than be captured; 
Zirizi'cuaro, on the east side; valley and city of Toluca; ascent of the Sierra 
Madres to a point 10,000 feet above the sea; passing around the village of Ocoyo- 
cac, and a few minutes later a thousand feet above it; grand view of valley and 
volcano of Toluca; mill and aqueduct of Jalapa; battleheld of Las Cruces; grand 
view from the mountain top after passing La Cima; the 
plain and valley of Mexico; the City and the vol- 
canoes on the east side; descent of the 
eastern slope; the "Moonstone" near Rio 
Hondo; Naucaulpan; Los Remedios on 
the west; Chapultepec on the east; 
old aqueduct on the east side. These 
are on the main line. On the western 
division the attractions are no less, 
as it passes through the beautiful 
lake region of Mexico, Lake Cuitseo 
and Lake Patzcuaro, and to the 
cities of Morelia and Patzcuaro. 
The Mexican Northern Rail- 
' WAY extends from Escalon to Sierra 
Mojada, 78 miles. 

The Mexican Southern Rail- 
road runs from Puebla to Oaxaca, 
^. 228 miles, passing through the im- 
--* '^'"' portant towns of Tecomavaca and 

Tehuacan, with an ultimate destina- 
tion at a Pacific port in the State of Tehuantepec. 
The road has a splendid passenger equipment, and runs through a country wildly 
picturesque, where primitive Mexico may be seen as nowhere else. Convenient 
schedules are operated to and from Puebla, connecting with those of the lines 
from the capital. The line runs at the bottom of the cafions, instead of on the 
cliffs, as in the case of almost all the other lines, presenting views unlike those 
seen anywhere else. Just below the beautiful city of Oaxaca, reached by a broad, 
level carriage road, are the big trees of Santa Maria del Tule and the won- 
derful Ruins of Mitla. 

The Hidalgo Railroad runs from the City of Mexico to Pachuca and the 
mining cities beyond; the road runs through a country rich in scenic beauty. 
There is a branch line to Irolo. 

The Michoacan & Pacific Railway runs from Maravatio, on the Mexican 
National, to Ocampo, with an ultimate destination on the Pacific Coast. 

The Monterey & Mexican Gulf Railroad extends from Tampico, on the 
Gulf, 387 miles to Trevino, on the International Railroad, crossing the Mexican 
National Railroad at Monterey, with an ultimate destination on the Pacific Coast, 
passing the cities of Victoria, Linares, Montemorelos and numerous smaller 
towns and villages of more or less interest to the traveler, in the newly opened 
country through which the line passes. 

The constantly changing scenes in the mountains and valleys from Treviiio 
and Monterey to Linares and Victoria make the journey over the Monterey & 
Mexican Gulf road a pleasing one, to which is added those of tropical beauty on the 
southern division of the line south of Victoria and all the way down to Tampico. 
The road passes near virgin forests where all the woods of tropics grow and 
from which the builders took cross ties and bridge timbers of ebony and mahogany; 
here are, also, the fruits and flowers, the birds and beasts peculiar to the torrid 



MOUNTAIN PATH. 



16 



zone, offering attractions to the touring traveler not found on every railroad, even 
in Mexico. Tampico is the chief seaport on the east coast of Mexico, an inter- 
esting city and a most charming vi'inter resort. Branch lines are projected from 
San Juan to Camargo on the Rio Grande, and from Linares to Soto La Marina. 

The Sonora Railroad runs from Benson, in Arizona Territory, to Guaymas, 
on the Gulf of California, 353 miles, passing Hermosillo, the capital of the State 
of Sonora, and through a country intensely interesting and possessing a vi^ealth of 
scenery. The harbor of Guaymas is one of the finest on the Pacific Coast, land- 
locked by high mountains that make it very beautiful as -well as a very safe one. 

The Vanegas, Cedral & Matehuala Railroad runs from Vanegas to 
Cedral, Matehuala and Rio Verde. 

Tehuantepec Railway — The completion of the Tehuantepec Railway makes 
the shortest possible transcontinental line north of the Isthmus of Panama. The 
road runs from the fine harbor of Coatzacoalcos, on the Gulf, to that of Salina 
Cruz, on the Pacific Coast. Both harbors are amply protected and possessed of 
sufficient water for all practical purposes. The harbor of Coatzacoalcos was dis- 
covered by a band of Cortez explorers. As there was no safe road where his ships 
could ride off the coast of Vera Cruz, he sent an exploring party down the coast, 
and Coatzacoalcos was the harbor they looked for. Tehuantepec is a few miles 
inland from Salina Cruz. The importance of this railroad is reahzed in the 
immense sailing distance saved on both sides, which is from 1,500 to 2,000 miles 
on the Gulf, and about the same on the Pacific. The Tehuantepec Railway is about 
140 miles long, while the Panama road is only 
forty miles, but this difference does not '^ 

count; when freight or passengers have to be >-t »" 

transferred it is as well to travel 140 ^'*- 

miles as forty, when the saving of sea 
voyage is considered. 

Steamer Lines — The principal 
steamer lines to and from Mexican 
ports are the Ward Line, New York & 
Cuba Mail Steamship Company, with 
weekly steamers between Vera Cruz, 
TampicD, New York and Havana, 
touching at Progreso, Campeche, 
Tuxpan and Frontera. - 

The Ceballos or Spanish Line 
steamers make the same ports. A 
railroad is in operation from Progreso 
to Merida, and other interior points 
in Yucatan. 

The Pacific Mail steamers, between 
San Francisco and Panama, touch at 
Acapulco, Mazatlan, Manzanillo and 
San Bias. 

Inland navigation in Mexico is at 
present very limited; small steamers 
are run on Lakes Patzcuaro and Cha- 
pala, and on some of the smaller rivers of the States of Tabasco, Yucatan and 
Vera Cruz, and up the coast to the ports of \''efa Cruz and Tampico, touching 
intermediate ports. The Ward Line has a coastwise steamer in the same waters. 
The Rio Panuco and Tampico Rivers are also navigated a short distance into the 
interior. But every one of these lines have their attractions that do not obtain on 
any other waters of the western world. 




FIRST SHRINE OF MEXICO. 




Historical. 




1 What might have served to enlighten upon the history of the earlier 
races that inhabited the land, was destroyed by the fanatics, who 
saw in the temples they found, evidences of a civilization almost 
superior to their own, and of a religion so nearly identical, that it 
seemed only a creed of the one they professed; the jealous bigotry 
that threw down the graven stones, and tore the pictured parch- 
ments to fragments, wiped out volumes of history and placed 
bloody chapters in their stead. The bigots pulled down that which 
HI their day and generation they could not build up, placed a period 
and a finis to the story of the races that were there for centuries 
before they brought their bloody banners to these shores, till there 
is only here and there a sculptured wall, with mosaics more intricate 
than any builded since, or massive monoliths setup in pillars to grace 
a corridor of grander proportions than their own, and, if they could, 
they would have destroyed all of these works of a people who had 
passed away under the assaults of barbarism, at a period prior 
to all traditions, leaving no name, and no trace of their existence 
save these monuments, which, neglected and forgotten by their 
successors have become the riddle of later generations. 
There was a survival of the fittest. The bigot and fanatic passed away in the 
fire of his own kindling. The good men and true saved, as brands from the 
burning, some scrolls of picture writings, and from destruction saved the marvel- 
ous carvings, that hung up for ornaments, and set as treasures within our modern 
walls, tell us of a departed civilization, but with only a drop of the knowledge of it. 
It is to be regretted that from the wreck of this primitive civilization some of 
the arts peculiar to it were not saved. The methods by which its astronomers 
succeeded in determining the apparent motion of the sun and the length of the 
solar year; of working and polishing crystal and other stones; of manufacturing 
delicate articles of use and ornament of obsidian; of casting figures of gold and 
of silver in one piece; of making filigree ornaments without soldering; of applying 
to pottery even and transparent glazes, such as are used by makers of fine ware, 
with colors that, after remaining for centuries under ground, still are fresh and 



18 

brilliant; of weaving extremely delicate tissues of cotton mixed with silky feathers 
and rabbit's fur. 

The earliest data of record is in the coming of the Toltecs to Auahuac, A. D., 
648, and the movements of the various tribes in the succeeding centuries till the 
foundation of Tenochtitlan in 1325, nearly 200 years before its destroyers came. 
But these dates are determined by tradition only, on which no two of the ancient 
chroniclers agree, but their differences are not material. 

The Conquest. The name of Cortez is synonymous with the conquest, but 
it was not his privilege to be the first of his race to reach the shores of the land of 
his brilliant adventures. 

Francisco Hernandez de Cordoba discovered the coast of Yucatan, March 4, 
15 17. A year later another expedition was sent out by Velasquez, the governor 
of Cuba, under command of Don Juan de Grijdlva, who came to the shores of 
Mexico and landed on the island of San Juan de Ulua, opposite the present city 
of Vera Cruz. A good report of the land was sent back to Cuba by one of the 
captains, Pedro de Alvarado, later a famous officer under Cortez, and still another 
fleet, larger than the others, was fitted out and placed under the command of 
Hernando Cortez. Before the fleet was ready to sail the governor determined to 
remove Cortez from command, which coming to the ears of the Conqueror, he 
prepared his ships for sea and sailed before his removal could be accomplished, 
on the night of November 18, 15 18, from Santiago de Cuba, touching at several 
other ports on the island for supplies. Cortez finally sailed for Mexico February 
18, 1519. The fleet consisted of eleven ships, carrying no sailors, sixteen cav- 
alry men with their horses, 553 foot soldiers, 200 Cuban Indians, a battery of ten 
small cannon and four falconets; with this army went two Indians as interpreters, 
captured by Cordoba in Yucatan tvi^o years previous. 

On his ship Cortez raised the standard of the conquest, a black ensign, 
emblazoned with the arms of Charles V., bearing the crimson cross borne in 
clouds, with the motto: Ajnici, seguajtien crttcem et si nos fidem habemus iiere 
in hoc signo vinceinns — " Friends, let us follow the cross, and if we have faith we 
will conquer." Under this flag and the patronage of St. Peter, Cortez sailed. 
On the island of Cozumel a shipwrecked Spaniard, Geronimo de Aguilar, was 
picked up; having been there for nearly nine years he had acquired the language 
and was a valuable acquisition as an interpreter. 

The first landing was on March 20, 15 19, near the Rio Tabasco, where there 
was fighting with the natives and a number made captives, among whom was La 
Marina, a native of Jalisco, sold here as a slave. She understood the language 
of the uplands as well as the coast, and thus, through her and Aguilar, Cortez 
could communicate with the people. La Marina soon learned the Spanish 
language and became the interpreter, ally and wife of the conqueror, and bore 
him a son, who was called Martin, as was another son by his Spanish wife. 

Leaving the River Grijalva, Cortez sailed up the coast and dropped his 
anchors off Vera Cruz, April 21, 1519. Efforts to secure a peaceful reception on 
the part of the natives were unavailing. Discontent arose among the Spaniards. 
Cortez, acting with his customary decision, burned his ships, and on the i6th of 
August began his march toward the capital of the Aztecs. 

With little incident or opposition the brave band of adventurers reached the 
table-lands and after a fight with the Tlaxcalans made them their allies. At 
Cholula, Cortez put down a conspiracy reported to him by La Marina, attended by a 
great massacre of the Cholulans. The natives were completely terrorized by the 
cannon and fire-arms, and the horse and rider of the cavalry were regarded as 
almost a god, or at least one being, as they had never seen a horse, so the invaders 
proceeded on their march, unopposed, passed over the causewavs of Tenochtitlan, 
and entered the present City of Mexico, Tuesday, Novembers, 1519; the Aztec 



19 



King, Montezuma, came out to meet Cortez, tradition says, on the site of the 
present Hospital de Jesus, founded by him in commemoration of this meeting. 

The aggressions of the Spaniards, and their oppression of the Mexicans soon 
turned their apparent friendship to hatred, and they drove them out of the City 
over the Tlacopan causeway, now called Tacuba, on the night of July i, 1520, 
called la noche triste, the Dismal Night; retreating, Cortez fought another battle 
at Otumba on the 8th of July, where the Tlaxcalans came to his rescue and turned 
the tide of war in his favor, and he halted in the city of these allies. While at 
Tlaxcala reinforcements came from Cuba; powder for the cannon and small arms 
vi^ere made from the sulphur taken from the crater of Popocatepetl. The bergan- 
tines, small flat-bottomed boats, were built, to be put together and launched on Lake 
Texcoco, when Cortez returned and commenced the siege of Tenochtitlan, Decem- 
ber 31, 1520, operating from the town of Texcoco with a force of forty cavalry, 
eighty arquebusiers and cross-bowmen, 450 infantry, armed with lances and 
swords, and a battery of nine small cannon. This was the Spanish contingent. 
The native allies numbered about 125,000. 

Montezuma died on the 30th of June, the day before the Noche Triste, and his 
nephew, Guatemotzin, called also Cuautemoc, who, it is said, shot the first arrow 
that caused Montezuma's death, was placed in command. The siege continued 
till the native garrison was starved into submission, and the Spaniards made their 
second and triumphal entry into the City of Mexico, August 13, 1521 ; but they 
found a different city than when the meek Montezuma met them at the city gates. 
Almost all the treasure had been destroyed or concealed, and to extort the secret 
from Guatemotzin, Cortez cruelly put him to torture, but without avail; the wealth 
of jewels, gold and precious stones had been thrown into the lake. 

Cortez was born in the town of Medellin, Province of Estramadura, in 1485, 
the son of Don Martin Cortez de Monroy. He came to Cuba before he was twenty 
years of age, and later married Dona Catalina Juarez under compulsion, 
whom he murdered in the garden at Coyoacan. During the conquest 
La Marina took the place of Dona Catalina, by whom no children were 
borne. A son, Don Martin, was born of La Marina, and three daugh- 
ters by other Indian women of rank. 

After the conquest Cortez married Dona Juana de Zuiiiga, who was 
called his second wife, and by whom he had three daughters and one 
son, also named Martin, who was heir to the conqueror's titles and 
estates. There was a son, Don Luis, by Antonia Hermosillo. 

The two sons, both named Martin, entered into a conspiracy to 
secure the rulership of the province to Don Martin, the son of Dona 
Juana. For this his estates were confiscated, but finally restored to him. 
He married and left a son, Hernando, the third Marques of the Valley, 
whose son, Don Pedro, the fourth Marques, lived on the estates until 
1629, dying in that year without male issue. Through the daughters 
the property passed to the Neapolitan Dukes of Monteleone, which 
family still controls the vast estates. The sons, Luis and Martin, by 
La Marina, were recognized by their father. There is no record of 
the descendants of the latter. Those of Don Luis are known as 
Cortez Hermosillo. 

Hernando Cortez, the Conqueror, died in the town of Castelleja de 
la Ouesta, in Spain, December 2, 1547. 

The Viceroys — Mexico was under the dominion of Spain for 300 years, during 
which time there were five Governors, two Audencias and sixty-two Viceroys. 
Cortez was the first Governor; the others were military commanders of the time. 
The Audencias, composed of three to five members each, were torn by envies and 
jealousies and proved entirely unsatisfactory, so the government by the Viceroys 




CARVED IN WOOD, 

IN THE POSSESSION OF 

MR. CHURCH, 

THE ARTIST, OF NEW YORK. 



20 

was resorted to. The most prominent, with the important incidents of their 
administrations, are recorded here. Don Antonio de Mendoza was the first Vice- 
roy, continuing in office from 1535 to 1550. He brought the first printing press 
and printed the first book in Mexico. He extended the domain to Morelia and 
Guadalajara, and opened the mines of Zacatecas and Guanajuato, and during his 
administration the first money of Mexico was coined. 

Don Luis de Velasco, the second Viceroy, held the office from 1550 to 1564, 
and extended the territory of the province northward to Durango. He freed 
150,000 Indians held as slaves by the Spaniards, and founded many important 
institutions, among them Hospital Real and the University. During his time the 
patio process for the reduction of silver was invented at Pachuca by Bartolome de 
Medina. He built the dyke of San Lazaro after the first inundation of the city in 
1552. Loved and lamented, he died in the City of Mexico, July 31, 1564. 

Don Martin Enriquez de Almanza was the fourth Viceroy, from 1568 to 1580. 
The first stone of the Cathedral was laid during his reign and the Inquisition 
established. 

The seventh Viceroy was Don Alonzo Manrique de Zuniga, 1585 to 1590; he 
was instrumental in extending the commerce of the country. 

The eighth Viceroy was Don Luis de Velasco, son of the second Viceroy, who 
established internal manufactures, and commenced the extension of territory 
into New Mexico in the years 1590 to 1595; after an absence as Viceroy of Peru 
he was again Viceroy from 1607 to 161 1, during which time the great Tajo de 
Nochistongo was begun, and the Alameda established. 

The ninth Viceroy was Don Gaspar de Zuniga y Acevedo, Conde de Monterey, 
who ruled from 1595 to 1603. He extended the domain to California and 
founded the town of Monterey, California, and in Mexico he removed the city of 
Vera Cruz to its present site. Don Diego Carrillo Mendoza, Marques de Galves, 
was the fourteenth viceroy, 1621 to 1624, doing much to exterminate the bandits 
that infested the highways of Mexico. The twenty-second Viceroy, Don Francisco 
Fernandez de la Cueva, Duque de Alburquerque, in 1653-60, colonized New Mexico, 
and founded the town of Albuquerque. 

The worthy Fray Payo de Rivera Enriquez was the twenty-seventh Viceroy, and 
also Archbishop of Mexico, from 1673 to 1680. During his reign, the causeway 
and aqueduct of Guadalupe was built. Don Melchor Portocarrero Lazo de la 
Vega, Conde de la Monclova, twenty-ninth Viceroy, 1686 to 1688, built, at his own 
expense, the aqueduct of Chapultepec, colonized the State of Coahuila, and 
founded the town of Monclova. Don Gaspar de la Cerda Sandoval Silva y 
Mendoza, Conde de Galve, was the thirtieth Viceroy, from 1688 to 1696, during 
which the domain was extended to include Texas, and under his direction the 
town of Pensacola, Fla., was founded, in 1692. 

The thirty-second Viceroy was Don Jose Sarmiento Valladares, Conde de 
Moctezuma, which title of Conde came through his wife, a lineal descendant of 
Moctezuma III. Don Juan de Acuna, Marques de Casafuerte, was the thirty- 
seventh of the line of Viceroys. During his reign, from 1722 to 1734, the first 
newspaper, Gaceta de Mexico, was published. Don Pedro Cebrian y Agustin, 
Conde de Fuenclara, was the fortieth Viceroy, from 1742 to 1746, during which 
years the State of Tamaulipas was colonized. 

Don Joaquin de Monserratte, Marques de Cruillas, forty-fourth Viceroy, 
established the first regular army in Mexico between 1760 and 1766, and caused 
the houses in the City of Mexico to be numbered. Don Carlos Francisco de 
Croix, Marques de Croix, was forty-fifth Viceroy, from 1766 to 1771. He expelled 
the Jesuits from Mexico and extended the Alameda to its present dirnensions. 

The forty-sixth Viceroy v/as Don Antonio Maria de Bucareli y Ursiia, from 1771 
to 1779. Mining and minting was greatly increased during his reign, and nearly 



21 





THE PLAZA OF AGUAS CALIENTES, 



130,000,000 was sent to Spain. He died in Mexico, and is 
buried in the little church on the hill of Guadalupe. 

Don Juan Vicente de GUemes Pacheco de Padilla, Conde 
de Revillagigedo, was the fifty-second Viceroy, and the great 
reformer of the period 1789-94. He paved and sewered the 
city, executed bandits, and sent out exploring expeditions, one 
of which penetrated Alaska. He attended the erection of pub- 
lic works in person, and was on the alert day and night, so that 
nothing escaped him. It is said that one night he tripped 
on an uneven piece of pavement, and had the workmen called 
from their beds, and told them to have it fixed before morn- 
ing. On another occasion he found a street that was barri- 
caded by some native huts. He sent for an officer and ordered 
the street opened, so he could pass through on his way to 
mass next morning. To this day the street is called Calle 
Revillagigedo. 

Don Miguel de la Grua Salamanca, Marques de Branci- 
forte, was the fifty-third Viceroy. During his reign, 1794-98, 
Florida was ceded to France — that portion east of the Per- 
dido River. 

Don Jose de Iturrigaray, the fifty-sixth Viceroy, 1803-8, for 
his favors to the native element during the interregnum be- 
tween Ferdinand VH. and Joseph Bonaparte, was arrested, 
imprisoned on the island of San Juan de Uliia, and sent back 
to Spain. The fifty-seventh Viceroy was Don Pedro de Gari- 
bay. He executed the Licenciado Verdad, the 
first martyr of Mexican Independence. 

Garibay was succeeded by the then Arch- 
bishop of Mexico, Francisco Javier de Lizana, 
as fifty-eighth Viceroy. 

The Revolution — The Viceroys from 
1809 were beset in all directions by the 
revolutionary spirit that was afire through- 
out the country. The first conspiracy was 
discovered in Michoacan and promptly 
stamped out. In 1810 the first decisive 
steps of the Revolution were taken by 
the joint action of the patriot priest, Hi- 
dalgo, in the town of Dolores, in the State 
of Guanajuato, and Allende, Aldama, 
together with the officers of the Queen's 
regiment (then garrisoned at San Miguel), 
and greatly assisted by Dona Josefa Ortiz 
of Queretaro, who, under pretense of a 
literary society, was holding patriotic 
meetings at her house. These plans were 
discovered and the patriots compelled to 
act before they were quite ready. On the 
morning of the i6th of September, Sun- 
day, the comrades came to the house of 
Hidalgo, in Dolores, and told him of the 
discovery of the plot. The padre said 
they must act at once; at early mass he 
told the people that the yoke was no longer 



22 

Spanish but French, and the time for its throwing off had come. His people 
responded, the^^^/Vf> de Dolores cried for help, and he set out with Allende and his 
companions at the head of a band of 300 men armed only with clubs and knives. 
As they passed the Santuario de Atotonilco, Hidalgo took from the altar the ban- 
ner of Guadalupe, and it became the standard of Independence. At San Miguel, 
the regiment of Allende joined the insurgents, and the march to Guanajuato was 
commenced. The people of the country flocked to his aid, and he came to the 
town with a heavy force; the Alhondiga de Granaditas was taken, and the city 
occupied by the patriots. 

The march thence was toward Morelia, then called Valladolid, and thence 
towards the capital, his forces being constantly augmented, and at Las Cruces, 
almost within sight of the city, October 30, 1810, met the Royal forces and drove 
them back, but for some reason Hidalgo himself decided to retreat, and retired 
towards the interior, encountering the Royalists again November 7th, near Aculco, 
where he was defeated and driven back, but reached Guadalajara in safety, and 
organized a government there. Hidalgo met the Spaniards again January 16, 
181 1, on the bridge of Calderon and had his little army dispersed. 

The defeated patriots made their way northward with the hope of reaching 
the United States in safety, but were betrayed into the hands of the Spaniards, and 
were captured in the little town of Acatita de Bajan, on the 21st of Alay, 181 1, and 
conveyed to Chihuahua, where they were executed, Hidalgo on the 31st of July, 
Allende, Aldama and Jimenez on the 26th. 

The death of these leaders had only a stimulating effect on the cause of Inde- 
pendence. The entire country was aroused and a desultory war carried on in 
every district for more than four years, until the execution of Morelos at the 
orders of the Inquisition, December 22, 1815, at Valladolid, now called Morelia, 
in honor of the patriot. As fast as they were captured the patriots were shot, but 
others came to take their places, and in some cases came over from the Royalist 
forces, as in the case of Yturbide, who captured and shot Matamoras at Vallado- 
lid, February 3, 1814, and seven years later himself promulgated the cause of 
Independence; the famous Plan of Iguala, which was the establishment of the 
Roman Catholic church to the exclusion of all others; the absolute Independence 
of Mexico as a moderate monarchy, with a Spanish prince on the throne; the 
union and equality of Mexicans and Spaniards. These three clauses were called 
"the three guarantees," represented in the national colors: green, union of the 
Mexicans and Spaniards; white, religious purity; red, independence. 

Yturbide'sarmy, known as the "Army of the Three Guarantees," finally accom- 
plished the Independence of Mexico. 

The cities of Valladolid, Oueretaro and Puebla were captured, the latter on 
August 2, 1821, and at once commenced the siege of the capital. The last Vice- 
roy, Juan O'Donoju, had just arrived at Vera Cruz. He found that he could not 
reach the City of Mexico and set about arranging a personal interview with Ytur- 
bide, which occurred at Cordoba, on August 23, 1821, and an agreement, known as 
the Treaty of Cordoba, was drawn on the lines of the Plan of Iguala, with amend- 
ment that O'Donoju should be one of the regents to govern Mexico until a king 
could be selected. This arrangement practically ended Spanish rule in Mexico. 
Yturbide returned to his army, and on September 21, 1821, entered the City of 
Mexico in triumph. The territory within the boundaries of Mexico at that time 
included Guatemala, all of the present Republic of Mexico, and that part of the 
United States from the Red and Arkansas Rivers to the Pacific Coast, extending 
north to the British possessions, — one of the greatest empires of the earth. 

Agustin de Yturbide was born in Valladolid, now Morelia, September 27, 1783, 
joined the army at the early age of fifteen, and by his merit as a soldier was 
rapidly advanced. He was never in favor of the Republic, though he desired the 



23 

Independence of Mexico, and probably hoped for his own enthronement, which 
was accomplished for a brief season. 

On the 24th of February, 1822, the first Congress of Mexico assembled in the 
capital. Their election had been provided for by a committee of regency based 
on the Plan of Iguala and the Treaty of Cordoba. Almost immediately there were 
two important factions among the people. They resolved themselves into two 
political parties, one composed of the army and the church, that had for its object 
the placing of Yturbide upon the throne. The other party, composed mostly 
of prominent people, had an idea of an Empire under a prince of Spain. The 
Spanish Cort^z had, in the meantime, February 13, 1822, annulled the Treaty of 
Cordoba. This gave encouragement to the army and clergy party, and Congress 
was forced to make selection of an Emperor. On May 19, 1822, Yturbide Avas 
elected by a vote of 6-] to 15, and on the 21st of July of that year, Yturbide and his 
wife were crowned in the Cathedral, as Emperor and Empress of Mexico. The 
Emperor was titled Agustin I. The Empire was short lived. Congress, which 
had been friendly to Yturbide, was dissolved by him and a sort of parliament 
organized, called a "Junta." 

Before the end of the year the Empire came to an end by the proclamation of 
a Republic on December 6, 1822, at Vera Cruz, by General Antonio Lopez de 
Santa Ana, and early in January the entire country had gathered under the banner 
of the Republic, leaving only the City of Mexico as the Empire. Yturbide called 
Congress together, tendered his resignation, which was not accepted, as the election 
had not been regarded as legal, and his actions as Emperor were also illegal. He 
was banished from the country, but granted a pension of $25,000 for his previous 
services to the country. 

He went to England, and from London he wrote to the Government warning 
them of the machinations of the clergy for the restoration of the Spanish rule in 
Mexico, and offering his services in defense against them. Congress did not 
accept the information or his services, and at once a decree was issued, pro- 
nouncing Yturbide a traitor, and placing the penalty of death, should he return 
to Mexico. Yturbide was ignorant of the issuance of this decree and returned 
to Mexico, landing at Soto la Marina, a little town on the Gulf coast, in 
the State of Tamaulipas. He was arrested at once and taken before the legis- 
lature of Tamaulipas, then in session, condemned to death, and shot July ig, 1824. 

The second Congress, really the first of the Republic, assembled in the capital 
on the 7th of November, 1823, adopting a Constitution very similar to that of the 
United States, giving to the several 'states of Mexico similar rights to those of the 
United States. It created a National Congress, to be composed of a Senate and 
Chamber of Deputies, placing the executive power in the hands of a President, 
and the judicial in the Supreme and Circuit Courts. This Constitution was 
proclaimed on the 4th of October, 1824, and on the loth of that month the first 
President of Mexico, General Guadalupe Victoria, took the oath of office. Con- 
gress was dissolved on the 24th of December, 1824, and the first Constitutional 
Congress convened January i, 1825. In that year Fort Juan de Uliia, the only 
place held by the Spanish, was evacuated and the Republic of Mexico was recog- 
nized by the United States and England. 

From 1828 to 1846 there was a constant series of revolutions, growing out of 
the disregard of the election between the Centralists and the Federalists. The 
second election for President occurred in 1828, when General Gomez Pedraza 
was elected, General Santa Ana dissenting and starting a revolution, which 
placed General Vicente Guerrero in office. 

Congress passed an act on the 20th of March, 1829, banishing all Spaniards 
from Mexico, which, of course, brought retaliation from Spain. A force was 
organized in Cuba, which landed at Tampico in July, 1829. This invasion was 



24 



met by the opposition of all the people in Mexico. Santa Ana organized a force 
at Vera Cruz and proceeded to Tampico, which was reenforced by General 
Mier y Teran. A battle occurred on thegthof September, which, on the nth, was 
followed by the surrender of the Spanish invaders. This was the last act of the 
Spaniards to regain possession of Mexico, and was followed by 
the recognition of the Republic by Spain, December 28, 1836. 

The Liberal Congress, in March, 1833, commenced the enac- 
tion of laws against the clergy, tending to the abolishment 
of monasteries and convents, and to forbid the priests teach- 
ing in State or National schools. This law was, however, 
withdrawn by Santa Ana in 1834. 

While these stormy scenes were being enacted in 
Mexico, that part of the great Empire known as Texas 
had been settled, to some degree, by Americans, who, 
in 1835, under the leadership of Sam Houston, declared 
their Independence. 

General Santa Ana was in command of the army 
sent to quell the revolution, and was met by the 
Texans in several bloody battles, among which was 
the massacre of the Alamo. Texas existed as a separ- 
ate Republic until 1844, being recognized by the United 
States and the European powers. On the 12th of April, 
1844, a treaty was concluded between President Tyler 
and the Texans, by which Texas was admitted as one 
of the United States. This treaty was ratified by Con- 
gress in March, 1845, which action, of course, did not 
meet with the approval of the Mexicans. As Texas 
was an independent power, and had been recognized 
as such by the Mexican Government, their right to 
he annexed by the United States was not questioned 
by any other power. 

This was the beginning of the 
Mexican War, and the first battle 
was fought April 24, 1846, in which 
sixteen Americans were killed and 
wounded, and the remaining force 
captured. In the next battles, which 
were Palo Alto, on May 8th, and 
Resaca de la Palma on the next 
day (both of these places in Texas), 
the Mexicans were defeated. 

General Taylor crossed the Rio 
Grande at its mouth, on May the 
i8th, and occupied the Mexican 
town of Matamoros. The Ameri- 
cans had provided for the prose- 
cution of the war by an appropria- 
tion of $10,000,000, and 50,000 vol- 
unteers were called for. Before 
the war commenced an envoy of 
the United States, Mr. Slidell, had 
been refused an audience by General Paredes, who had obtained the place of the 
Presidential office of Mexico, so that all efforts looking to a peaceful settlement 
were abandoned. General Taylor advanced from the Rio Grande, captured 





THE STONE SAILS OF GUADALUPE. 



25 

Monterey September 20, 1846, and on the 23d of February, 1847, fought another 
battle at Buena Vista, about five miles south of Saltillo. 

Generals Doniphan and Price marched through New Mexico, where they had 
engagements with the Indians, then proceeded in the direction of Chihuahua, 
which they occupied on the 28th of February, 1847, after the battle of Sacramento. 
General, then Captain, Fremont, acting under orders from the Government at 
Washington, started a revolution against Mexico in California, and on the 7th of 
July, 1846, Commodore Sloat occupied thetown of Monterey, California, and the 
next day Commander Montgomery occupied San Francisco. On the 17th of 
August, Commodore Stockton issued a proclamation taking possession of Cali- 
fornia, complete occupation of the State being made by Stockton and Kearney. 

The expedition against the Mexican capital was under General Winfield Scott, 
who landed at Vera Cruz March q, 1847, and captured the city after five days 
bombardment, on the 27th of March. On his march toward the capital he met 
General Santa Ana at Cerro Gordo, and defeated him on the i8th of April. 
Without further opposition General Scott reached Puebla, and entered the 
Valley of Mexico on the 9th of August, defeated the Mexicans at Padierna, 
August 20th, and marched to the field of Churubusco on the same day. 

On the 8th of September occurred the battles, Molino del Rey and Casa Mata, 
and, on the 12th and 13th, the Americans took possession of Belemand San Cosme, 
entering the City of Mexico on the 15th of September, 1847. A treaty of peace 
called the "Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo," was concluded on the 2d of Feb- 
ruary, 1848, by which Mexico ceded to the United States all the territory north 
and east of the Rio Grande, for which the United States Government agreed to 
pay to Mexico the sum of $15,000,000, thus concluding a war, whose settle- 
ment, on its face, would seem to be the most liberal in the history of wars, but 
concluding a war that General Grant pronounced the most unholy and unjust 
ever waged by a stronger nation against a weaker one. 

In 185 1, Mariano Arista was elected President. In less than two years, in the 
midst of a revolution, he resigned the place. The following two years, from 1853 
to 1855, General Santa Ana was Dictator. On December the 12th, 1855, Comon- 
fort was elected President, commencing his administration with the enforcement 
of the laws against the Church. 

In 1856 he ordered the sale of all landed estates owned by the Church, the 
Church received the money, and the ownership of the lands passing to private indi- 
viduals. In the same year, September i6th, he announced the suppression 
of the Monks, which was instigated by a conspiracy of the San Franciscans. 
During his administration a new Constitution was framed and adopted, February 
5, 1857, Comonfort remaining as President until the election underthe new Con- 
stitution, when he was elected to succeed himself. He entered upon his second 
term, December i, 1857, and one of his first acts was to overthrow the Constitution 
that he had sworn to support. He dissolved Congress in December and impris- 
oned Benito Juarez, who had been elected his successor. All of his plans failed, 
he left the country in 1858, and did not return until the French Intervention, 
when he joined the Mexicans against Maximilian. After the departure of 
Comonfort, Juarez became the Constitutional President, but was compelled to 
abandon the capital, and at once set out for Guadalajara, where his Government 
was organized. He proceeded to the Pacific Coast, thence to the United 
States, returning to Vera Cruz, from which point he administered the Govern- 
ment. During this time another Government was in existence in the City of 
Mexico, under Felix Zuloaga, whose administration commenced a vigorous pros- 
ecution of the War of the Reform, which extended over the entire country. In 
this Juarez took prominent part by his proclamation of the Laws of the Reformat 
a time when there seemed the Teast possible chance of success. This was the 



26 

bitterest war in the history of Mexico. Juarez proclamation was dated July 12, 
1859, and had the effect of a settlement of the causes of the dissentions of fifty 
years. Juarez entered the City of Mexico, January 11, 1861, and commenced 
operation of the Laws of the Reform from the capital. 

In 1861, July the 17th, the Mexican Congress passed a law suspending pay- 
ment on the bonds and interest of the Republic held by foreigners. This law 
gave the European powers an excuse for the intervention. The first intervention 
in Mexican affairs, however, was during the administration of General Busta- 
mente, when a claim of $600,000 was made by France for damages suffered by 
French subjects during the various wars. 

One of the items of this claim was made by a French cook for $60,000 worth 
of pies, alleged to have been stolen from him by the soldiers. This claim of the 
French was derisively called " La Reclamacion de los Pasteles," the claim of the 
pies. A French fleet arrived October 27, 1839, ^-nd captured the City on the 5th 
of December, on which day the French were attacked and driven back to their 
ships by General Santa Ana, who in this battle lost his leg. A treaty was con- 
cluded in March, 1839, when the full claim of $600,000 was paid. 

The intervention of 1861 was then the second, and the outcome of an agree- 
ment called the Treaty of London, entered into October 31, 1861, between France, 
England and Spain, binding these nations to occupy the coast of Mexico, with 
the idea to put the Mexicans in a position to establish a government of their own. 

The fleet of the allies arrived at Vera Cruz in December, 1861, and January, 
1862, bringing commissioners — General Prim, of Spain, M. de Saligny, of France, 
and Admiral Wyke, of England — who were authorized to treat with the repre- 
sentatives of the Mexican Government. These commissioners issued a procla- 
mation declaring that their presence in Mexico was for the purpose and question 
of finance only. A conference between the Government and the commissioners, 
called the Treaty of La Soledad, signed February 19, 1862, allowed the Spanish 
troops to advance as far as Orizaba, and the French troops to Tehuacan. The 
English made no advance of troops into the interior ; in fact, only i.ooo'marines 
had accompanied the English fleet as a guard of honor. It was stipulated that 
the troops should be withdrawn as soon as the treaty should be confirmed by the 
English and French commissioners. The Spanish forces were withdrawn, and 
the English and Spanish ships left Vera Cruz. The French troops remained, and 
were reenforced in March to the number of 40,000 men under Marshal Forey, 
who arrived in Mexico in January, 1863. Their advance towards the capital was 
repulsed at Puebla on the 5th of May, 1862, by General Zarazoga's troops. 
Puebla was captured on the 17th of May of that year. 

Juarez abandoned the capital and the French soldiers entered the City of 
Mexico June 9, 1863. On the loth of July, 1863, an "Assembly of Notables" was 
called together in the City of Mexico, and a declaration made by that body to the 
effect that Mexico should be governed by a hereditary Monarchy, under a Catholic 
prince, and that the throne should be offered to Maximilian, Archduke of 
Austria, also a representative of the ruling house of Spain, and brought Mexico, 
in 1863, practically to the position she occupied in 1821. Maximilian accepted 
the throne on two conditions; first, that he should be elected by a popular vote in 
Mexico, second, that the Emperor Napoleon should give him military aid as long 
as it should be necessary. 

Maximilian arrived in the City of Mexico, June 12, 1864, with his wife, 
Carlotta, daughter of Leopold I., King of the Belgians. They were crowned Em- 
peror and Empress in the Cathedral in the City of Mexico. 

Maximilian continued to enforce the Laws of the Reform, and thus increased 
the opposition of the Clerical party. As President Juarez had, or was believed, to 
have abandoned the country, Maximilian issued a decree declaring all persons in 



27 



arms against the Government to be bandits, and when captured should be shot. 
The decree aroused bitterness of opposition throughout the country, following 
the execution of Generals Arteaga, Salazar, ViUagomez and Felix Diaz. 
The opposition to Maximilian was not confined to Mexico. The United States 
Government was opposed to the re-establishment of a monarchy on the western 
continent. Secretary Seward informed the French in a diplomatic way, that as 
soon as he could be relieved of some little difficulties that he had on his own 
hands, in his own country, at that time, he would look at the occupation of Mexico 
by the French army, as a grave reflection on the United States, and that the 
United States could not tolerate the establishment of an Empire in Mexico based 
on military support of a foreign country. 

Napoleon, on reception of this note, abandoned Maximilian, and ordered the 
evacuation by the French in November, 1866. Maximilian had not secured the 
support of either of the parties of Mexico. He had burdened the country with an 
excessive debt, due possibly to evil councilors, one of which was Marshal Bazaine. 
The collapse of the Empire was immediate. The appeal of 
Carlotta to the French Emperor and to the Pope was una- 
vailing. The last of the troops left Mexico in 
February, 1867. Maximilian decided first to 
leave the country, but reconsidered his decision 
and concluded to remain. 

President Juarez had left Paso del Norte and 
was advancing southward ; during all of this time 
he had maintained his authority as President of 
the Republic. 

General Miramon was sent out to capture 
Juarez and was defeated at San Jacinto on the 
first of February, 1867, and fell back to Quere- 
taro, where he was joined by Maximilian. While 
these movements were being prosecuted in the 
North, General Porfirio Diaz captured Puebla on 
April 2, after a siege of twenty-five days, 
and defeated Marquez at San Lorenzo on 
April II, and at once commenced siege of 
the City of Mexico. General Escobedo 
commenced a siege of Oueretaroin March 
and continued it until its capture on the 
15th of May. Maximilian was captured on 
the stony hill called Cerro de Las Cam- 
panas, and on the spot where he was cap- 
tured he was executed, together with his 
Generals Miramon and Mexia, at seven 
o'clock on the morning of June ig, 1867. 
A request from the United States Govern- 
ment thatthe lifeof Maximilian be spared 
was not heeded. Nineteen Generals of 
Maximilian's army were also condemned to 
be shot, but were pardoned by President Juarez. ,. city of mexico. 

The City of Mexico surrendered to General Diaz June 21, and President Juarez 
entered the capital on July 25, 1867. The Constitution of 1857 was placed in effect 
throughout Mexico, a new Congress was convened, and Juarez re-elected Presi- 
dent October 12, 1871. During this administration the various railway and tele- 
graph lines were projected. They were only slight disturbances that occurred in 
Mexico after the fall of the Empire. In a subsequent election the opposing can- 







STATUE OF CHARLES IV. 



28 

didates were Juarez, Lerdo de Tejada and Porfirio Diaz. Juarez was elected 
December i, 1871, and took his seat for the third time, the result of which was a 
slight revolution, occurring in various parts of the country. These were headed 
by Porhrio Diaz on his Hacienda of La Noria in Oaxaca. A manifesto was issued 
proposing a convention and assembly of Notables, to reorganize a government 
with Diaz as commander-in-chief of the army, until the establishment of such gov- 
ernment. The movement was interrupted by the death of Juarez and the succes- 
sion of the President of the Supreme Court, Lerdo de Tejada. The administra- 
tion of Lerdo was peaceful, and he was elected President, December i, 1872, con- 
tinuing in office for three years, during which time the railroad between Vera 
Cruz and the City of Mexico, called the Mexican Railway, was opened on 
January i, 1873. 

Another Revolution occurred in Oaxaca, January 15, 1876, and once more the 
country was in the midst of a strife. Lerdo was forced to leave the country, and 
General Diaz entered the City of Mexico November 24, 1876, and was proclaimed 
President; on the 6th of May, 1877, he was declared Constitutional President, in 
which office he remained until November 30, 1880, during which time he put down 
small revolutions, and executed nine Revolutionists on June 24, 1879. 

On the 25th of September, 1880, Congress elected General Manuel Gonzales 
President. During the administration of General Gonzales the celebrated Nickel 
riots of 1883 occurred, the common people refusing to accept nickel coin in the 
place of silver, entailing on them considerable loss. The national debt of 
Mexico was also greatly increased, and his administration was practically a finan- 
cial failure. 

General Diaz was again elected President and took the oath of office Decem- 
ber I, 1884. He found an absolutely empty treasury and a country without credit. 
It was a condition and not a theory that confronted Diaz — a condition that theories 
alone could not ameliorate. Urgent and immediate action v/as the only remedy 
for the deplorable state of the country. General Diaz was the man of action of 
the day, who delayed not for the state of urgency in anything. To perceive a 
need, with him, was to act at once, and promote the prosperity and peace of his 
country. The railroads and the telegraphs had only been proposed ; the commerce 
of the country was in a state of lethargy. Diaz' quick, restless, active disposition 
called it to life, and his liberal, wise and efficient administration of the Govern- 
ment made it possible to complete the railroads and telegraphs, and it promoted 
the internal improvements in every direction, so that his own acts have placed 
President Diaz among the foremost statesmen of Mexico and of the world. 

A patriotic Mexican writer says: "With the restless, inconstant character of 
our race, the long tenure of office by one man is one of the greatest dangers for 
the peace of the nation. Yet, notwithstanding, General Diaz has succeeded in 
avoiding shipwreck on this shoal, making himself all but indispensable to the 
completion of the reconstructive and conciliatory work of which he is the true 
and only author. The work of pacification accomplished by General Diaz has 
consisted in the strengthening of the central power, and the discreet use of his 
personal prestige and influence for the purpose of securing in all the states of 
the Union the election of governors attached to him personally, and resolved to 
second him at any cost in the task of assuring to the country the supreme benefit 
of peace, as the most imperious necessity of the Mexican people. The patriotic 
conviction of the urgency, for a nation bleeding and weakened as ours has been, 
of a convalescent political regime to enable us to recuperate our shattered 
strength, has facilitated the insensible and voluntary creation of a system of 
governmental discipline wherein the federated units, like the wheels of an im- 
mense machine, receive without shock the impulse of force, action and movement 
which is conveyed to them from the great central motor." 




Practical Matters. 



Railway Tickets are regulated by a code of rules similar to those 
in effect in the United States. They are first, second and third 
class, at prices in accordance with accommodations furnished. 
Through unlimited tickets or limited and excursion tickets are 
good to stop-over within their limit; all others must be used 
through to destination. 

Baggage and Customs Regulations — On arrival at the border 
cities, travelers should have their baggage ready for examination 
by the Mexican officials, and on the return by the Americans. The 
duty is quickly and courteously performed, without trouble or 
annoyance to the well-intending traveler. Hand baggage should 
be taken to the baggage room of the station, where the trunks are 
also taken to be opened by the owners. No fees are required or 
expected, and it is bad taste to offer them. Nothing except wear- 
ing apparel, watches and jewels worn on the person, fire-arms, 
tools of trade, a broken package of cigars or cigarettes, and such 
other articles, are on the free list. When the exajnination has 
been completed let the passenger request that his trunk be wired 
and sealed, and it will go through to destination without further 
exajnination. This is important, as baggage is subject to customs 
examination at any State line, or for municipal duties anywhere in Mexico. On 
the return the American officers are equally polite and courteous, and their exami- 
nation a mere form, but under the law nothing is free except wearing apparel, hoop- 
poles, skeletons, sauer kraut, bologna and joss sticks. The ninety-nine cigar fallacy 
is long ago exploded, and idols, antiquities, rag figures and presents for friends at 
home, are all dutiable, though they are often passed free in small quantities. 

The baggage regulations on the railways are the same as in the United States 
to holders of tickets purchased in this country, 150 pounds free on each full ticket, 
and 75 pounds on half tickets. On local or through tickets within the Republic 
thirty-three pounds is the limit of baggage carried free. On those leading to the 




A TRAINED NURSE. 



30 

United States or other foreign countries the full 150 pounds is allowed. Agents of 
transfer companies board incomuig trains as they approach the larger cities and 
check ba<yo-age to hotels or residences, call for baggage to be checked to all points 
in the Republic and the border cities. Ca7'gadores, public porters with 1 umbered 
bado-es indicating a license, may be trusted with baggage to and from trains. 

Money — The money of Mexico is the same as that of the United States, z". e., 
dollars and cents, called in Spanish pesos y ceJitavos ; that is the legal way of 
countmo- it, as enacted by a law takmg effect in 1890, but the people still use the 
old system to some extent, though they understand both. A tlaco is a cent and a 
half, a cnartillo is three cents; these are of copper. The silver coins are medio, 
6% cents, rea/, 12% cents, quarter and half dollars, and dollars, though these are 
never so called; they are dos reales (pronounced do reales), and cuatf-o reales, and 
seventy-five cents is sets reales. Regardless of the law to the contrary, prices are 
quoted in reales, up to one dollar, then in most cases it is pesos y reales, thus: a 
dollar and a half is tin peso y cuatro reales, one dollar and four reales. 

The fifty-cent piece is sometimes called a tosto7i, and 25 cents a 
peseta, though rarely. The Mexicans make change to a nicety and are 
credited witli splitting tlacos, literally, and with a hatchet. ) 

Gold is little used — an onza de oro is worth $16; a media onza de oro. < 

%%;pistola, %\; esciido de oro, $2; escudito de oro, $1. 

The paper money in circulation is in notes of the National Bank of 
Mexico, the State banks and 
the Bank of London, Mexico 
■ and South America all passing 
at par, except some of the State 
banks beyond the limits of the 
State where issued, then only 
at a slight discount. 

Silver is to be depended on 
at all times, and, although bulky 
and heavy, it is the best. The 
native possessed of a sufficiency 
carries it in a hand bag with a 
shoulder strap. 

It is not necessary to buy 
Mexican money before reach- 
ing the border; in fact it is bet- 
ter not to do so, as better rates 
of exchange can be obtained 
thereandin Mexico. The ticket 
agents at Juarez City, opposite 
El Paso; City of Porfirio Diaz, 
opposite Eagle Pass, and New 
Laredo, opposite Laredo, can 
always furnish sufficient funds to 
reach the interior where American 
paper is always worth a premium. 

The gold and silver is not so ac- 
ceptable; New York exchange also 
commands par or premium. on guard. 

Measures and Distances— A vara is 33>^ 
inches and corresponds to the yard in the dry goods stores. A metre is a yard 
and a tenth, and a pie is about 11 inches, corresponding to the foot, and is so 
translated into Enghsh; a pulgada is about an inch. A kilometre is about five- 




31 




eighths of a mile, and a legiia, in English a league, is about 2.6 miles, the mile 
{inilla) not being used except on rare occasions. 

Climate — Because it is in the far south; because it lies almost wholly within 

the tropics and near the equator, Mexico is supposed to be a warm country; the 

contrary is the case. The climate is the most equable in the world; 

the only difference between summer and winter is, that in the sum- 

\ mer it rains almost every day, while in winter there is scarcely a 

shower during the whole season. 

It is the extremely high altitudes of nearly all the cities and 
towns of Mexico, except those near the coast, that give them the 

delightful and healthful climate they 

possess. The rays of a tropic sun are 

tempered by cooling breezes blowing 

over snow-clad mountains. The time 

for a tour of Mexico may be at the 

tourist's convenience. Traveling is 

pleasant at all seasons. The only 

places to be avoided in summer are 

those in the tierra caliente, Vera Cruz, 

Tampico and other cities near the sea coast, and 

except at these places it is healthful at all times. 

Clothing — The proper clothing is that used in 

this country for spring and autumn wear; light overcoats 

and wraps are needed only after nightfall or at points of 

extremely high altitudes. 

Cabs and Carriages — If we could strike an average 
between the coach of state of the Emperor 
Maximilian, as shown in the National Museum, 
and the "yellow-flag" cab of the streets, the City 
Mexico would have the finest cabs in the world; as it 
is, she has more different kinds than any other city. 
They are good, bad and indifferent, carrying little tin flags, about two by four 
inches, when not engaged. These flags indicate the class and rates of fare. The 
blue-flag rates are one dollar fifty per hour for one or more passengers, or seventy- 
five cents per passenger from hotel to station or short ride of few squares. The red 
flag indicates one dollar per hour and fifty cents per passenger. The yellow 
flag's tariff is fifty cents per hour and the horses usually earn it, the time of 
transit being usually so long that it would be cheaper to get a blue-flag hack at 
once. A medio or a real may be added to these rates as a fee to the driver, and 
another to the small boy who may have been on the box with the driver and 
who may have opened the door for you. But this is as you please. If an attempt 
to overcharge is made, a request for the " numero" usually effects his departure 
in short order. After dark, and on Sundays and Feast days, these rates are in- 
creased about fifty per cent. 

If the cab is needed for less than an hour it is best to ask how much for the 
ride; if for longer than an hour, say por hora and get in. Compare your time with 
the driver and dismiss him promptly at the end of the ride. The hackman of 
Mexico differs not from his brethren in all the other parts of the world, and further 
advice to the traveler would be a waste of words. 

Horse Cars — The horse car of Mexico, nine times out of ten, is a mule car, 
the mule figuring as the almost universal motive power, standing still at times, 
looking without life, but when the word is given he goes with a rush, galloping 
to the other end of the line with all his might, as if in a hurry to get to stand still 
again. The driver simply holds the reins and lets the mule go, his, the man's. 



32 



duty being principally to wind the brake, blow a tin horn at street intersections, 
and to frighten, though he always fails, the droves of donkeys — though this is 
not the fault of the horn, which is not unlike the campaign horn, or the Christmas 
horn of the American small boy, as highly hideous in its hootings — but without 
effect on the burros, which regard them not, and listen even lightly to the hissing 
whistles and the andele ! andele ! ! of their own drivers. But the horse cars have 
the right of way, and hurry on through the droves, often jostling their heavy 
loads. There are first and second-class cars going in pairs within a block of 
each other, the best car first. The first-class cars are painted buff, and the others 
green. The fares are from five to twenty-five cents, according to the distance 
traveled. The second-class fares are cheaper. The conductor sells tickets and 
a collector boards the car at certain points and takes them up, thus doing away 
with the bell punch. Special cars may be hired for parties; these bear the legend 
"Especial" over the lamp, and the public do not attempt to use them. There 
are also freight cars, box cars and flat cars, and cars for sheep and goats. And 
there is in Mexico, as nowhere else, a funeral car, with a raised dais and catafalque 
beneath a four-post canopy capped with a cross. The funeral car is painted 
black or white. These cars, with a number of " Especiales," with closely drawn 
curtains, make up a funeral train for those not able to hire a hearse and carriages. 
The name tramway is in use, and is translated to Spanish as tran-via. The 
system in the City of Mexico is a fine one, nearly all the lines starting from the 
main plaza and returning there. 

Hotels and Restaurants — More has been said against the hotels and restau- 
rants of Mexico than they ever deserved. The only trouble the American has in 
the Mexican hotel results from his own misfortune, not to say his fault, in not 
being able to speak the language to make his wants known, but no man who can 
say hamo7ie e waivos or Mf tek e cafi need go hungry in Mexico. All 
comers will find clean beds; they may be 
somewhat hard sometimes, and not as 
wide as the home bed, but scrupulously 
clean, as the rooms are also. 

On arrival the guest is shown to a room; 
if accepted then, he may register, and his 
name is written on a blackboard with his 
room number. It is needless to use up a 
hotel register if the room don't suit, and 
what is the use of having a clerk to tell 
where the guests' rooms are, when the caller 
may look on the black-board and see for himself. 
Once assigned to a room, the guest is left severely 
alone, the manager's sole duty, after the assignment, 
being to keep books and collect the bills; and yet every- 
thing moves smoothly, and all wants are supplied when 
made known. A Mexican of mature age presides over 
the key-rack, and when you have called for the key once, 
you won't have to again; the master of the keys recog- 
nizes you as you approach, has your key ready, with any 
cards or letters left for you, and with a cheery buenas 
noches, Senor, bids you good-night. The hall boy — and there is one 
on every floor — is a sort of Pooh-bah in his way. He is bootblack and 
porter, messenger and chambermaid, and agent for remote and unknown laun- 
dries; he removes soiled linen, and en inanatta has them back again, clean and 
snowy white, with no one on earth except himself knowing where in Mexico he 
takes them or whence he brings them. More than this, the hall boy runs a sort of 




33 





wfcttiilliiiii^--ii 




free school for the dissemination of the Spanish language to the ignorant guests; 
this he does con miicho gusto, and is pleased to tell you the name of anything, if 
he can catch on to your pronunciation of the question, coma se llama eso? 
Almost all hotels are on the European plan. Rooms may be obtained 
at from one to five dollars per day, according to size and location; if 
two or more persons occupy the same room, a reduction is made. It is 
well to know the price of the room before engaging it, then there can 
be no discussion at departure. Rooms may be engaged by mail or 
wire (the message may be sent in English), and they will be kept and 
charged for from the time indicated in the letter or telegram. 
Lights, candles and lamps are provided for rooms, but guests are 
expected to furnish their own matches and soap. In nearly 
j^ri# all the best hotels there are good baths. The baths of Mexico 
are to be commended, and are appreciated as a comfort 
and a luxury not expected. 

In many of the better restaurants there are English- 
speaking head-waiters, and bills of fare printed in 
r' English. There are regular meals at fixed prices, 

from 25 cents for bread and coffee, y]\4. cents for 
eggs and coffee, to 50, 62>^, 75 and $1.00 for din- 
ner or supper. Where meals are served a 
la carte the prices are affixed to each article. 
Arrangements may be made for board by the 
day or week, at rates for two or three meals 
per day, as desired. It is best for persons not 
speaking the language to take regular meals, table d'hote, 
and the meal can be served without trouble and served 
well. Whatever may be said of the restaurants in Mexico, 
it should, be added that the good ones are managed by 
natives, and the bad ones by foreigners, as a general 
thing, and, with few exceptions, the restaurant advertised as English or American 
is to be avoided. 

The hours for meals are somewhat different in Mexico from what they are in 
other countries, but the "meals-at-all-hours" rule apphes to all the first-class 
places. In the early morning the custom of Mexico — and it is a good one — is to 
take coffee and bread, and, if you please, fruits ; the best kind of fruits are to be 
had everywhere. About noon is the breakfast hour ; the meal commences with 
soup and follows a menu very much like an American noon-day dinner, ending 
with dessert, and coffee, of course. The other full meal of the day takes place 
at from five to eight o'clock in the evening, and is called dinner or supper, as the 
fancy dictates, and resembles the earlier bill of fare of the noon-day in every 
particular, commencing with soup and ending with coffee. 

The chili con carne, chile with meat, of Mexico, when nicely prepared, is as 
palatable as it is hot. The meats are fresh, with only the fault of being generally 
overdone ; the poultry is fine ; fresh vegetables are to be had every day in the 
year, as well as the fruits of every clime — apples and peaches from the temperate 
zone, and pineapples and oranges from the hot country. The bread is always 
good, the coffee stronger than in other countries ; little butter is used, and is 
made and served fresh without salt. 

The drinks peculiar to Mexico are many and varied. Pulque is the natiorial 
beverage, drank in public places by the poorer people, but in almost every family 
of all the classes. Pulque is the juice of the maguey, taken from the heart of the 
plant, and after the fermentation of twenty-four hours is ready for use ; pulque 
more than a day old is useless. Tequila and mescal are a distillation from the 



BEGGAR ON THE STAIRS OF 
GUADALUPE. 



34 




different varieties of the maguey, the heart of the plant being roasted and then 
put through the process of distillation. A small quantity of tequila is a drink, 
taken with a grain of salt ; hterally the salt is placed on the tongue before 
drinkine. The wmes are for the most part good, the sherry and claret particu- 
larly sor The champagnes are all imported, as are also brandies and whiskies, 
which are used in moderation. Beer and ale are manufactured in Mexico, though 
large quantities are imported and the taste for the Teutonic beverage is growing. 

Stores and Shopping — Every store and shop in Mexico has a name, and 
that name is painted over the door; sign reading is as interesting to the new- 
comer in Mexico as to the country cousin on his iirst visit to city relatives. The 
name of the store is not always appropriate, but sometimes it is, as in the case of 
the drug store called in Spanish the "gate of heaven." This can be questioned 
only in the last word; a drug store may not be the gate to heaven. One saloon is 
known as the " Port of New York," though there is nothing in it which resembles 
New York in anyway. Another is more appropriately named; it is called "El 
triunfo del diablo," the triumph of the devil. The stores are named for cities and 
countries and have fanciful titles. Other signs, ending in " ria" indicate the 
wares for sale: Zapateria, shoes; relojeria, watches; 
ioyeria, jewelry; sastreria, tailor; bonneteria, millinery; 
and plataria, silverware. The goods are usually in a line 
of shelves running parallel with the street and very near 
the doors, so they can be seen by the passers-by. The 
clerks stand in a line behind the counter like a file of 
soldiers. Smoking is permitted everywhere, and the clerk 
on duty enjoys his cigarette at pleasure. 

The prices quoted are nearly always higher than .- - . 
it is expected to obtain, as it is presumed that all 
customers will want to " jew " the figure down, and 
the sharp driver at a bargain usually succeeds. The 
moral of which is, never give the first price quoted. 
This rule applies to the street vender, in the flower 
market, the markets, and the shops as well, but the large.r 
and finer stores do not practice this generally. 

There are many very fine stores in the City of Mexico 
and the larger cities that will compare favorably with those 
of the cities in other countries, and there are many novel 
features to make a visit interesting, whether you buy or 
not. The shopper will find the round of the shops even 
more fascinating than among the bargain counters of New 
York or Chicago. There are novelties to look over that 
are not anywhere else. Of course there are silks and satins 
and all that, and there are rebosos of cotton, linen and silk, 
and tapalos and mantillas and zerapes that are not to be 
found in New York or Chicago, and opals and bargains in 
antiquities not found anywhere in the world, to make shop- 
ping in Mexico interesting. 

Cigars and Tobacco-He never chews, 
but the Mexican smokes at all times and ^ . - 
under all circumstances. Before breakfast - , 
and after breakfast, before and after, and 
during his dinner, and between the courses 
he rolls and smokes his cigarette, as he 
does when he goes to bed and when he gets up. Only when he sleeps he does not 
smoke. The men do this, but the ladies do not smoke as they have the credit of 




A WATER CARRIER. 



35 



doing, though a gentleman always offers his cigarettes when he takes one himself. 
Elderly ladies enjoy a cigarette, and occasionally a ranchero (a farmer) and his 
wife may be seen to smoke an the cars, and many women of the middle or lower 
classes smoke incessantly, but in polite society it is not the custom among the 
women to smoke. 

In the restaurants and hotels smoking is permitted in the dining room, and is 
Indulged in. On the cars the Pullman is the only place where smoking is pro- 
hibited. At all other places it is permitted; at the theatre, but not during the 
performance, at the circus and bull fight it is the thing to do. At the bull fight 
cigars, instead of bouquets, are thrown to the toreadorfs. 

The cheap and middle grades of Mexican cigars are better than the domestic 

cigars of the United States, and their best cigars are far 

better, but none are as good as the Havana cigar. The 

Mexican cigar is cheap, but the imported article is very 

I high. Many smokers use cigars, but the great majority use 

cigarettes made of native tobacco, 




which they roll dexterously. 

Matches necessarily go with 
the smoker's outfit, and Mexican 
;- matches are the best in the world; 
they are double -enders, light at 
A FULL CARGO. both cnds. A stroke of economy 

goes with every match — the striking of the other end. If you are asked for a 
light the unused end is always returned. It is good as a picture to see the 
courtesy and politeness exhibited in giving and taking a light — the wave of the 
hand in thanks and the return of the match — and another one to see three or 
four cigarettes held over the blaze of a single match. The community of interest 
in that little fire, protected from the blowing out by one man's hand, is wonder- 
ful, and the sociability of the scene pleasing to a degree. Some other man of 
some other race might have blessed the man who invented sleep, but I think 
every Mexican blesses the man who invented smoke. 

Police and Military — The police are not as hard to find in Mexico as in some 
other countries, and there are soldiers everywhere, not as a menace, but as a pro- 
tection. Time was when bandit tales had their scenes laid in Mexico and foot- 
pad stories told of her cities, but that is ancient history; the rurales of the 
country districts, the police and military in the towns and cities, have been reg- 
ulators that regulated, till now all is peace and protection. 

The police of the cities are a well-trained, disciplined body of men, and always 
within call. In the City of Mexico, and in the larger cities, a policeman stands at 
street intersections; his lantern is placed in the middle of the street, and the long 
row of flickering lights up and down, in either direction, tells of the watchmen 
of the night, who watch while we sleep. 

A national feast day will show what Mexican soldiery is; a fine, well-trained 
body of men, whose pride and patriotism is to be applauded. Of the infantry, 
artillery, or cavalry, the rurales are the pride and the pink of the army. 

The rurales are the country police, mounted on the finest horses, and uniformed 
in the most picturesque manner, with saddles and trappings richly decorated. 
The men are fine specimens of humanity, stout and well built, wearing the broad 
sombrero of the country, a short leathern jacket and trousers braided and 
bedecked, all with silver braid and gold. They are armed to the teeth with latest 
improved arms, and well they know how to use them, for they were born to their 
use as their fathers before them. 

Doctors and Medicines — The physicians of Mexico rank high among the 
doctors of the world. A great many of them speak English, French and Spanish. 



36 



There are physicians from Germany, France and England and the United States, 
and very many of them prominent in their profession. The country is healthy, 
but at the same time the infomation as to physicians and medicines is essential, 
and one need not be in Mexico without the best medical attendance. 

Cargadores — This gentry combines the usefulness of the district telegraph 
boy and street porter. They are strong, heavy built men that carry the greatest 
weights, from a trunk to a piano; they meet all trains and are in and about the 
hotels ready to take the place of an expressman, and will convey baggage or do 
errands of any kind. The men are trusty and reliable, are licensed by the City 
Council, and carry on their breasts a brass plate with the number of their license. 
The tariff varies according to the service to be performed. 

Church Visiting — The Mexican venerates the very walls of his church; he 
does not pass in front of it without removing his hat, and it behooves the visitor 
to respect what the native venerates. It is not advisable, nor is it necessary to 
follow the native customs, but no man will forget himself and wear his hat in the 
church, or treat with levity what the others may do. The attendants in the 
churches are usually very courteous and willing to show whatever may be there 
of interest. There is not always a fee for this service, but an offermg for the poor 
of the parish is always acceptable. It is a good custom that will commend you 
to these people to naake a contribution, however small. In the towns and villages 
throughout this country the best information may be obtained from the priest, and 
you secure his good will by calling on him for it. The people seeing you on good 
terms with the padre regard you as a person of importance, and will join in their 
attentions. Without exception the priests are most 
courteous and obliging, and will often put themselves 
out for your convenience. 

Post Office — The rate on the letters from Mexico 
to the United States and Canada 
is 5 cents for each half ounce or 
fraction thereof; to all points in 
Mexico the rate is lo cents; to all 
other countries in the postal union 
lo cents; the registry fee is lo 
cents; newspapers, i cent 
for each two ounces or frac- ' 
tion thereof; other printed 
matter, i cent per ounce and 
three-fourths, or fraction thereof, 
to the United States and Canada, 
and 2 cents to European countries. 

The limit of weight of printed matter is 4.4 lbs. In the larger cities there is a 
regular system of delivery by carriers, and a letter with its proper address will be 
delivered promptly. 

There is a printed list in the Post Office, posted in the lobby, announcing letters 
on hand not delivered; these lists are posted daily. Letters from the United 
States to Mexico are 2 cents per ounce or fraction thereof; newspapers the 
same as to domestic points. 

Express Service — The Wells Fargo Company operate over the Mexican 
Central and Sonora Railways; the Mexican National operates its own express line. 
All other railroads have an express department that connects with the other 
express companies. 

Telegraph — The Mexican Government owns and controls a system of tel- 
egraph wires reaching to all parts of the country. The various railroad companies 
also operate commercial wires along their lines, having connection with the 




37 



Western Union and Postal Telegraph Companies at the border. The Cable 
Company has wires from Vera Cruz to the City of Mexico, and sends messages 
to the United States via Galveston. 

Baths — In the smallest villages and towns, and in all of the larger cities are 
unusually good baths. They are not always to be found in the hotels, but in some 
central location, or convenient place near a street-car line. As a rule the baths 
are good and clean. The soap furnished is just the size necessary for a single bath. 
The attendant furnishes this, together with towels, comb, brush and a small bottle 
of oil, presumably for the hair, and a wisp of the fibre called ixtle, all of which 
is included in the price, which varies from 12% to 25 cents. 

Servants — The servants in the hotels and restaurants are polite and attentive, 
which politeness and attention is always greatly enhanced by a fee, and which is 
always expected. They are not accustomed to large fees, and a medio or real is 
about the average; this custom applies also to the hackmen, who always expect 
this in addition to their regular fare. 

Dulces — The dulces of Mexico are very toothsome. These sweets come from 
Celaya, Quer^taro and Morelia. These places are most famous for these delicacies. 

Streets — Within the last few years the government of the City of Mexico 
passed an ordinance renaming the streets and avenues, and renumbering the 
houses, but the old names of the streets are still in use, and the old numbers des- 
ignate the houses. The custom of naming each square is still observed, and 
where a name is extended to more than one square the name is prefixed by a 
number, as in the principal thoroughfare — San Francisco — there is a ist and 2d 
San Francisco. The 'word.pucnte as applied to a street, as Puente de Alvarado, 
means that there was once a bridge in the causeway of this street. The Spanish 
names are: Ca/Ze, (ki-ye) sti'eet; avenida, (av-e-nee-da) avenue ; /"(^.t^c, (pas-i'oy-o) 
boulevard; callejon,{y\-^^-hon) alley or narrow street; calzada, (c2\-za-A2^ Q.2.m& 
-way; riticonada, (rin-con-(a:/z-da) corner; plaza, square; plaziiela, (plaz-u-aZ-la) 
little plaza; garita, (gar-^'-ta) gate; 
mmiero, {noo-ratx-6) number, and 
casa, (kas-sa) house. The sacrec 
names, as applied to streets, 
are derived from a church 
of the street, and partakes 
of no more sacrilege than 
in such cases in other count- 
ries, as for example, Trinity Place 
from Trinity Church, St. Paul, etc. 

Customs and Costumes- — I ha( 
heard of the courtesy and hospita 
of the Spaniard, and remembered, 
1 entered a Spanish home, being welcomed 
and told " this house is yours," and when 
1 had admired some object, I was informed 
that it was mine; when 1 came to Mexico 
I found the descendants of old Spain , _ 

had lost no whit of cordialitv. ^ 

and the welcome at place of 

business, or the home, was warm := _ ' ^.„ /- 

and spontaneous to a degree. — -'-* " 

Every house was mine, all that was in 

it my own, and everybody at my orders. 

The dress of the Mexican is a picturesque one, of which the wide sombrero is 
the feature, often richly trimmed in gold or silver lace, with a crest or monogram 




38 



on the crown. This elaborate head-gear often costs fifty to sixty dollars. A short 
jacket coming to or a little below the waist is also trimmed in gold and silver; the 
tight-fitting trousers, wide at the 'sharp-pointed shoe, have two to three rows of 
gilt buttons. The complete costume always mcludes a zerape of many colors; a 
zerape is a blanket or shawl worn over the shoulders, thrown in knightly fashion, 
with the fringed and tasseled end over the left shoulder. Men of all classes wear 
the zerape. Overcoats are almost unknown, except among the better classes. The 
principal and favorite part of a costume is the sombrero. A Mexican may go 
barefooted, and wear cotton trousers, but he'll have a thirty-dollar hat if he can 
get it. The man on horseback in Mexico is a symphony in gold lace and buttons, 
and the trappings of his horse and saddle are most elaborate. 

There are dudes in Mexico. They call a dude " un lagartijoT He wears the 
most gold lace and buttons, the tightest trousers and the widest hat. In other 
respects he differs not from the dude of other countries, and further space need 
not be wasted here. 

For ladies of high degree, the Spanish mantilla of black or white lace still 
does a fascinating duty in place of the hat or bonnet, and the Spanish costume 
from shoulder ,to high-heeled pointed slipper. The middle classes wear a black 
Idpalo, a shawl which is both wrap and head-gear. The lower classes and Indian 
maidens wear in the same way a scarf of cotton, 
usually blue or brown; this is the reboso. 
ican women are almost without exception 
fine form, healthy and robust. There are 
thousands of pretty faces, of richest color, 
long lashes, soft and downy ear-locks, 
black as jet, and with long, inky black 
hair. Under the tapalo or reboso is 
many aVenus; the corset is unknown, 
and nature forms to perfection. 

Ladies embrace each other at meet- 
mg, and kiss on the cheek. Men em- 
brace their friends, and pat each other 
on the back. In passing on the street, 
instead of saying " How'dy," they say 
"Adios — Good-by." Other salutations 
are: Before noon it is buenos dias ; 
after noon, buenos tardes ; after dark, 
buenas noches. 

Politeness and 
courtesy are 
characteristic 
of Mexico, 





and it is seen 

constantly 

everywhere; 

a Mexican will 

not enter a door a coffee mill. 

or pass up a staircase ahead of »his companion without an insisting "Pase senior" 

urgently put, till it is seen that one must go first, and then age or rank, or guest 

takes precedence. 

Following the customs of their ancestors, the young people of Mexico have 
not that freedom of association as m America. A young lady may not indulge in 
the society of her young man except in the presence of others; in fact, he may 
not even call upon her, as in this free and enlightened country. He must win 



39 

her by haciendo del oso — playing the bear. This does not mean that the young- 
man indulges in any idiosyncrasies of the bear, when he (the bear) catches a vic- 
tim. At a certain hour in the day the devoted lover comes under the lady's 
window, and when she comes to the casement he may stand and look at her, 
exchange glances, smiles and nods, go away and come back again to-morrow and 
do it all over again. If he is faithful and keeps this up for two or three years, he 
may finally be allowed to call and see her in the presence of another member of 
the family. If all goes smoothly they " marry and live happy to the end of their 
days," as in the fairy story. 

They are a music-loving people, whose souls are moved by a concord of sweet 
sounds, and if the love of music is the test, few Mexicans are fit for treason, strata- 




THE FIRE DEPARTMENT ON PARADE. 

gems and spoils. No jacal is too humble but what its adobe walls listen to the 
tinkle of the guitar, and no village so small but its band of native musicians will 
play in the little alameda in the evenings. In the larger towns and great cities 
there is music in some plaza or park every day by the military bands — an exam- 
ple set by the Government in giving the people music, that might be. emulated by 
the United States greatly to its credit. 

There be fiddlers in Mexico and some violinists. The fiddlers sometimes come 
under the car window of a passing train, and in hopes of a centavo thrown, give 
samples of native, music. There are some who carp at these crude musicians, 
but they are those who do not appreciate fiddling as an art, or the ciifficulties 



40 



thereof. Themistocles said he " could not fiddle, but he could make a small town 
a great city," proving^ that the attainment of proficiency in fiddling is attended by 
hard work. When the weird sounds come into your window let the centavitas go, 
for whatever work the player may not have done, he has learned the fiddle. 

There is music everywhere, there's music in the air, a music peculiar to the 
country and the people, a music of song, of stringed and wind instruments that 
plays at mornmg, noon and night. There are songs of. praise and songs of mirth, 
and love songs. 

There are songs of home. The people have their " Home, sweet home " in the 
notes of La Golondrina. Since music, heavenly maid, was young, she hath not 
ceased to soothe the heart of savage and civilized man, and her songs of home 
have been sweetest and dearest to his ear. That song of "Home, sweet home" 
is one that touches the American heart, as the home song melts the Mexican and 
brings memories of his, whether it be of adobe or of stone. Whether the soft 
melodies are picked from the strings of a guitar, or senorita sweetly sings the 
touching notes, or organized orchestra fills the ambient air with its tuneful tones, 




A FiRE DRi-:.. 



all there is of sentiment even in the stoutest, sternest heart, wells up in tender- 
ness when the home song's music greets the ear, brighter, glistening eyes and 
quicker heart throbs tell that the melody strikes the soul. 

Official Permits — Permits or passes are required to visit the various public 
institutions, such as the Palace of Chapultepec, the National Palace, etc. They 
are obtained from the Governor of the Palace, who is very courteous and obliging. 
When visiting an hacienda or for the ascent of Popocatepetl, permits should 
be obtained from the owners, most of whom reside in the city. 

Laundry — The laundry as it exists in this country has not been established in 
Mexico. The bell boy on your floor of the hotel is agent for numerous and sundry 
lavandera$, washerwomen of more or less proficiency, but in the main do very 
satisfactory work. The bell boy will attend to all details, and the linen delivered 
to him will be safely returned. Lists should be retained and checked with the 
returned articles, and any missing pieces will be looked up; rarely is anything 
lost through these people, and their work is, for the most part, promptly and 
carefully done. Prices are about the same as in cities of the some size in 
other countries. 



41 




j^^gJjjIS* 




•V\vM-e,>^\^j;^ ^K'cT.V^-'V^'^ 



Amusements. 




Teatro Principal — As the Church was interested, and a prime mover 
in nearly everything else in Mexico, so it was in the organization of amuse- 
ments in that country. The Brothers of the Order of San Hipolito built 
the first theatre, and in a little wooden building gave the first actual 
performance in Mexico, with a company of players employed for 
the purpose. The first performance was given January ig, 1722; 
the programme included " The Ruin and Burning of Jerusalem," 
and an afterpiece called "Here was Troy." The Burning of 
Jerusalem resulted in the burning of the theatre. The natives 
looked upon the burning as a visitation of Heaven for the unholy 
means taken to obtain money for the use of the Brotherhood, but the 
Brothers did not look at it in that light, and proceeded to build another 
theatre, completing it in 1725. The entrance of this theatre may still 
' be seen about the center of the portales, on Coliseo Viejo Street. 
The present building is that of the Teatro Principal, and was com- 
pleted on Christmas Day, 1753. The opening performance was a 
comedy entitled "Better it is than it was." This theatre formerly 
belonged to the Hospital Real, later to the College San Gregorio, 
until 1846, when it passed into private hands. The old theatre is 
one of interest in Mexico. The heavy stone wall between the boxes 
and stalls is a contrast with the light wood-work of our theatres. 
It is very massive, and looks more like a jail than a theatre. 
- Teatro Nacional — The National Theatre is the most fashion- 
able theatre in the City of Mexico; it is comparatively new, 
having been opened in 1844. It has a seating capacity of over 
three thousand. This theatre has a very handsome foyer, 
and a portico with heavy Corinthian columns. The best dra- 
matic and operatic companies always play at the National; it is 
always the place of public function, commencements of schools and colleges 
of a high class, such as Chapultepec. 




42 



The Arbeu Theatre is near the Street of San Felipe Neri, and was opened 
in 1875. The Hidalgo is in the Street of Corchero; these are the theatres of the 
middle class, not fashionable, but altogether respectable. 

Salon de Conceirtos is a concert hall of the Conservatory of Music, where 
high class concerts are given by such associations as the Philharmonic Society. 
It has an audience hall with full theatre attachments, and is one of the hand- 
somest in the city. 

Circo-Teatro Orrin, as its name would indicate, is the circus theatre of the 
Orrin Brothers, located on the Plazuela Villamil. Its handsome iron building was 
put up at a cost of nearly $100,000. The interior has a dress-circle, parquet, a stage 
and a ring. During the performances both the stage and the ring are used, but 
when only the stage is used, the ring is removed and the parquet extended over 
it, with regular theatre chairs. The ring is sometimes trans- [aj, 
formed into a lake, with steamboats, sailboats and canoes, ^>, 
managed by a company of diminutive Mexicans. During 
the performance it may be transformed into the Palace of 
Cinderella, which will appear in the place of the ring, and 
in full view of the audience. The novel- 
ties introduced by the Orrm Brothers are 
refreshingly new, and on more than 
one occasion have been copied 
by the managers of the United 
States. In the summer time 
when the circus 
company is on the ^■ 
road, light opera 
performances are 
given. 




CIRCO-TEATRO ORRIN, CITY OF MEXICO. 

The Orrin Brothers are noted for their liberality and charity, giving frequent 
benefits for the support of charitable institutions, both for native and those of 
the foreign colonies. On the gala nights of each week the theatre is handsomely 
decorated with flowers, and on great feast days each private box is decorated 
profusely with flowers. The occupants are presented with corsage bouquets and 
boutonnieres, and the aisles leading to them are completely carpeted with roses. 

Bull Fig-hts — Laws forbidding bull fights within the limits of the Federal 
District have been passed from time to time, and have as often been repealed. 
The laws may or may not be in force now, but the interdiction of bull fights does 
not apply in other parts of Mexico. The sport is indulged in, in almost every large 
city in Mexico. The fights are given on Sundays and feast days. The Plaza de 
Toros is in shape very much like the cyclorama buildings of America, only 



43 




ENTRANCE OF THE BULL. 



out of the ring. 



"TSgi*; 



^_„„rW5-' ■ ~'~~-~~-^ much larger and without a roof; inside is a monster amphi- 
\^ theatre, seating thousands of people. Encircling the 
arena is a high fence or barrier with a foot-rail about 
^ eighteen inches from the ground, on the inside, on 
which the performers step and leap over the 
fence when too closely pursued by the bull, land- 
ing in an open space between the audience and 
the ring. The opening of the performance is 
very brilliant and exciting. The audiences are 
nearly always large, sometimes numbering fif- 
teen to twenty thousand, all eager for the fray. 
Gay colors are everywhere, bands are playing 
the liveliest airs, and all is excitement. The 
; feeling of an American under the circumstan- 
ces is one of amazement and anxious expecta- 
W- tion. There is a grand flourish of trumpets, a 
gaily caparisoned horseman dashes in, gallops to 
the President's'^^x, and a key is thrown to him; it 
y^ is the key of_^e door leading to the pens where the 
^,-'' animals are kept. The horseman catches the key — 
woe be to him if he don't — and gallops back to the 
entrance and disappears; if the 
key is not caught the man is hissed 
Another flouriah of trumpets and 
loud huzzas from thousands of throats an- 
nounce the coming of the company. > - ^"^^^^^^-^^'j^^^i^/ J^, 

Itis, indeed, abrilliant spectacle, the w/a/- 
ador, capeadores and bandej-illeros on foot 
and picadores on horseback, all clad m the 
gayest, gaudiest costumes, in all colors 
and gold embroideries. They march to 
the President's box. The President is a #1/ 
municipal or state officer, and has full s X 
direction of the proceedings. He is saluted 
by the company and the fight is about to 
commence. Now the wildest excitement prevails, and 

the scene is a perfect picture of pande- 
monium. All eyes are turned toward the 
^ ~ - low strong doors under the band stand; they 
^ •- ,^ are thrown open, and from a darkened pen 
,_ the bull bounds into the ring. As he 
" ' passes under the rail a steel barb, with 
ribbons attached, showing the breeder's 
, colors, is fastened in his shoulder. He 
gallops to the middle of the ring, stops and 
looks about with fear and astonishment. He 
is a grand-looking beast. Surprise and fear 
give way to rage; he paws the earth and snorts in 
his frenzy, and discovering the red cloak of the 
espada starts towards him on the run. The man 
goes over the fence, but not too quickly, for he has 
hardly disappeared before the bull's horns are thrust 
through the boards. The animal turns and spies a horse, and woe be unto the 
horse; his day has come. T\\& picador with his lance is totally unable to keep the 




THE PICADOR. 




PLACING THE BANDERILLAS. 



44 




ESPADA CALLING THE BULL. 



bull from goring the horse, and it is killed 
on the spot. The horses are not valuable 
ones, being old veterans retired from 
service, feasted and fattened to friski- 
ness for this occasion. They are 
blindfolded and ridden in to certain 
death. Another man is chased out 
of the ring and another horse severely 
wounded. A signal from the Presi- 
dent and a bugle call directs the 
horses to be rem.oved. 

Now comes the really interesting 
feature of the performance, the 
thrusting of the baiiderillas. The 
bull is alone with his tormentors; it is 
a contest between skill and brute strength. A banderilla is a stick about two feet 
and a half long; on the end is a very sharp barbed point. The stick is covered its 
entire length with colored paper ribbons. The banderillero is the man who 
places them in the bull's shoulders. He must stand in front of the animal, without 

flag or cloak, must stand still and wait the attack. 
The bull, maddened at his audacity, starts at 
him at full speed. The man steps out of his 
way gracefully, and skillfully thrusts the bande- 
rillas in the bull's shoulders as he passes by. 
.,•' As soon as the animal can check his headlong 
speed he turns, now furious with rage, only to 
' ' find another banderillero with two more bande- 
rillas. These and two more are thrust into his 
shoulders, all hanging there. Bellowing now, 
he is wild. Another signal from the President 
instructs that the bull has had enough and 
must be killed. This is where the matador, the 
primer espada, distinguishes himself. His skillful killing of the bull by a single 
thrust of the sword is what determines the brilliancy of the star. The matador 
must face the bull, sword in hand, and await the attack. It is assassination to 
strike while he is at rest, and calls for hisses and missiles from the audience. 
The blood-red cloth or muleta is flaunted 
in front of the bull. The maddened animal 
closes his eyes and makes one more 
dash for life and falls in death. The 
sword of the matador is thrust be- 
tween the shoulders to the hilt and 
has pierced the animal's heart. 

Wild bursts of applause fill the 
air; hats, canes, cigars by the bushel 
are thrown into the ring by the de- 
lighted spectators; men shout and 
sing, and ladies wave their handker- 
chiefs and mantillas. The matador 
bows his acknowledgements, throws 
the hats and canes back to their 
owners, who seem grateful that he should honor close quarters 
them thus. The band plays, the gates are opened, and three gaudily decorated 
mules harnessed abreast are driven in. A rope is thrown over the dead bull's 




HE COMES. 



.\ 




45 




BUT HE PASSES BY. 



horns and he is dragged out. The 
wait between the acts is not more 
than a minute; the bugle calls, the 
low doors open and another bull 
gallops in, and thus till six are killed 
at each performance. The skill and 
agility of the performers is some- 
thingwonderful and consists of hold- 
ing the red cloth in such a way that 
the bull rushes for the cloth instead 
of him who holds it. The bull shuts 
his eyes and does not see the man 
as he quickly steps to one side and 
escapes, but often he must save his 
life by flight and a leap over the 
barrier around the ring. 

The Plaza de Toros is the bull 
ring. The fomcion is the perfor- 
mance. The best seats are on the 
shady side, those in the sun being 
sold at cheap prices. Seats in the 
shade $2 10^3; boxes from $12 to $20, 
according to the company playing. 
The star fighter is the matador 
or espada. He it is who finally kills 
the bull with the sword. The ban- 

derillero is the man who thrusts the banderillas in the animal's shoulders, and 

the banderilla is a dart with a barbed point 

ornamented with colored ribbons. The little 

plait of hair or queue worn on the back of the 

head by a bull-fighter indicates that he has 

passed the degree of banderillero. If he com- 
mits any offense against the code of ethics or 

repeatedly fails in the act of placing the ban- 
derillas, his queue is cut off in public and he 

is forever disgraced. The picador is the man 

on horseback, but he don't stay there long 

after the entrance of the bull; yet while he 

does he goads with a pike or pole with a steel 

point. The capeadores are the men who handle 

the capes or cloaks which are flaunted in the 

bull's face to worry. The muleta is the red 

cloth used by the espada at the killing, and 

the cachetero is he who puts the finishing dag- 
ger stroke between the horns; and when he 

has done so six times (if there are only six 

bulls) the show is over. 

The history of bull-fighting in Mexico is 

but another chapter added to that of Spain, 

simply changing the names of the stars of the 

profession. The people of Mexico inherit the 

bloody fascination of the sport, and what has 

been written of the exciting funcions in the 

plaza de toros oi Spain will describe as well the 




THE DEATH. 



46 




TAKING AWAY OF THE BULL. 



fights in the arenas of Puebla, Toluca, 
Tlalnepantla, the City of Mexico, or any 
other of the Repubhc. Star matadors 
from Spain and Cuba have visited Mex- 
ico, notably Mazzantini and others at 
different times,but they have notdimmed 
the glory of the home constellation, for 
Mexico believes in patronizing home in- 
dustry when it comes to bull-fighting, 
and Mazzantini's reception was not cor- 
dial nor his engagement prosperous, 
so the field is left to the home talent. 
There are famous names on the roll of 
tauromachy of Mexico, such names as 
Corona, Hernandez, Gonzales, Gavino, and a 
host of others, but none have reached that pinnacle attained by the idol of the day, 
the great and only Ponciano Diaz — a man commanding the admiration of the entire 
people, a man of whom a native papersays: "Should some day a man be required 
to fill the archiepiscopal see at Mexico, and the bull-fight going people be called 
to elect a man for the place, Ponciano would be the man. Should a presidential 
election be left to the will of the masses enthusiastically patronizing the popular 
sport, Ponciano would be the president. Should it ever come to the point of abol- 
ishing the republican system of government in Mexico and create a monarchy 
instead, we would see thousands of the young matador's admirers propose the name 
of Ponciano the First for the Mexican throne. That's the kind of a man Ponciano 
Diaz is." It does not follow that the bull-fighter is a "tough." Mazzantini was 
a graduate of a college at Rome and an A. M., and Ponciano Diaz a modest, well- 
appearing man of intelligence and good breeding, brave but not a bully, correct 
but not foppish, and altogether not spoiled by his professional successes. 

Ponciano is a semi-god to the masses; he is the impersonation of all that is 
great to the people. Do you doubt? Then you have not seen a delirious mob 
unhitch the mules from their hero's carriage the day he went to see the first bull- .f 
fight by Mazzantini at Puebla, and hundreds of 
them haul the coach as a triumphal chariot 
through the streets, until they reached the hotel 
with their idol, shouting as they ran. Then you 
have not witnessed the ovations that he receives 
wherever he goes, and on the street the young 
and old, boys and girls and little children, point 
out — There goes Ponciano! If a man can reach 
the pinnacle of popularity, Ponciano is that man 
It is with the masses that the taste for the sport 
seems to be ineffaceable; the upper ten as a class 
do not, as a rule, frequent the bull-ring, though 
there are many and very brilliant exceptions, and 
I have seen the most elegant carriage on the ' 
Paseo whose occupants were little chil- 
dren dressed in the full costume of the 
toreador. And the Mexican small boy 
plays at bull-fighting, as the American 
does at base ball or as the more sporty one 
puts on the gloves with his fellows and does what he 
can to knock them out. Is it, then, any wonder the custom prevails, when the 
children are taught to admire it? 




PLAYING AT BULL FIGHTING. 



47 




The City of Mexico. 




The story of Mexico has its chiefest charm in the story of its 
chiefest city, whether the chapters are of the early days of the Toltec 
times, of the Conquest of Cortez or the days of Diaz; whether 
their scenes are laid in Tenochtitlan or the City of Mexico; and as 
the Spanish conqueror fought his way up the rugged hills from the 
sea, with all energies bent for the wonderful city, so the traveler of 
to-day passes by the other cities till he comes to the greatest one. 

No authentic chronology has named the date of the founding of 
Tenochtitlan, though all traditions agree as to the place; that its 
temples were in the midst of the lakes that spread out in the broad 
Vale of Anahuac, and that the temple of temples was near the spot 
of the great Cathedral of to-day. Clavigero, not always a reliable 
authority, but a faithful and laborious worker, deduces the following data: 

The Toltecs arrived in Anahuac A. D. 648 

They abandoned the country ..... " 105 1 

The Chicimecs arrived - - - - - - " 1170 

The Acolhuans arrived .-.-.-. " 1200 

The Mexicans reached Tula -.---- " iiq6 

They founded Mexico ---.... " 1325 

And if these be true, Tenochtitlan was a city of two centuries before Cortez 
threw down the teocali and its temples. The ancient city took the name from its 
miraculous origin. For a long time after their coming, the Mexicans led a 
'migratory life, till, after a series of wanderings, they halted on the southern and 
western border of the principal lake, in the year 1325, on the spot where they 
beheld, on the stem of a prickly pear, a royal eagle of extraordinary size and 
beauty, with a serpent in his talons and his broad wings opened to the rising sun. 
They hailed the auspicious omen, announced by an oracle as indicating the site 
of their future city, and laid its foundations by sinking piles into the shallows, 
for the low marshes were half buried in the water. On these they erected frail 
dwellings of reeds and rushes, and sought a precarious living from the fish and 



48 




49 



fowl of the lakes. The name Tenochtitlan is from tunal, a cactus, on a stone, 
though the popular name of Mexico is derived from Mexitl, their god of war. 

The early settlers did not prosper. They were torn by "internal dissentions, but 

after a hundred years of feuds, wars and discord, the Aztecs, the Tezcucans and 

Tlacopans, allied their States for offensive and defensive wars, with an equal share of 

i; ^" - thespoilsbetween the other two, after the little State of Tlacopan 

I had been awarded one-fifth; but from either superior 

prowess or civilization, the survival of the fittest 
was with the Aztecs, and the other nations 
disappeared or merged under the domin- 
ions of the first Montezuma a hundred 
years later. When yet another century had 
passed, Cortez came, and from Texcoco's 
shores sounded the knell of the Montezuma 
dynasty, threw down the temples of Ten- 
ochtitlan, and on their zocalos founded the 




THE AUDIENCE AT THE TRAIN. 



Church of God. From the time his ships hovered off the coast of Vera Cruz, the 
Spanish commander received repeated embassies from Montezuma, warning him 
not to approach his capital — warnings that went unheeded, and though not unop- 
posed the intrepid adventurer, with only a handful of followers, marched through 
the \?iX\^,h\x\\\.]i\\%bergantines2L\. Tlaxcala, and set them afloat at Texcoco. On the 
8th of November, 15 19, Cortez marched across the narrow tongue that is between 
the waters of Texcoco and Chalco, and the day is memorable as the one in which 
the European first set foot in the capital of the Western world, and the story of it 
is as a romance whose very fascinations may be doubted. It was a peaceful entry 
that day, but the peace of it was not enduring; there were three years of wars and 



50 

hostility, during which the ancient city of Tenochtitlan was utterly destroyed. 
Not until the year 1522 was the foundation of the Spanish city established in the 
building of a naval arsenal for the guarding of the bergantines near the site of 
the present Church of San Lazaro. From a modern standpoint, the city did not 
grow rapidly; it was more than two hundred years before it had a hundred 
thousand inhabitants. The original city was only about one-quarter the size of 
the present one; the center was the great teocali on the present Plaza Mayor; the 
limits reached about the Alameda, on one side, and the canal on the other. 

The founder of the modern City of Mexico was the Viceroy Don Juan Vicente 
Giiemes Pacheco, Conde de Revillagigedo, who accomplished many reforms that 
tended to beautify it and make it a place of health in its cleanliness. Unlike 
Spanish cities in general, the streets are wide, and for the most part, in the central 
district, are well paved, and the modern city is one of metropolitan appointments. 
The principal streets are lighted by electricity, gas and oil. The water supply is 
abundant, brought in by aqueducts and pipes; besides there are more than 600 
artesian wells. The drainage, which was commenced by the Viceroy Pacheco, 
has been perfected under the administration of President Diaz. The great tunnel 
that is to drain the lakes, or at least cause a steady flow of water from the city, 
has been bored through the eastern hills, and it only remains to connect the 
sewers and the important work is done. The police system is excellent. The 
streets are patrolled by trained men. At each street intersection an officer stands 
night and day, and at night must have his lantern in the middle of the street, 
trimmed and burning, so that one may always know just where to find a police- 
man in the City of Mexico. 

The City Government is on the same principle as in the cities of the United 
States. The city council have their offices and hold their sessions in the Ayunta- 
miento, on the south side of the Plaza Mayor, where the seat of municipal gov- 
ernment has remained since 1532; the present building dates from 1720. 

The Markets, always interesting in Mexico, are not particularly so in the 
capital. The Volador, just south of the Palace, is the market; for many years 
the land was rented from the heirs of Cortez, but it was finally purchased by the 
City in 1837. The other markets are Merced, Jesus and Santa Catarina. 

The Flower Market adjoins the Cathedral on the west side, not a very ex- 
tensive one, but most mteresting. A little pavilion of glass and iron, in the shadow 
of the Cathedral towers, is filled every morning with the choicest flowers, brought 
there from all over the valley and sold by the Indians; to strangers the prices 
are always higher, but no stranger ever bought as many flowers for so little money 
anywhere else in the world. Twenty-five cents will buy all you can carry, and 
when one starts out with a purchase of even that size, small boys will tag along 
importuning to carry the burden. 

The Portales are the columned archways under which certain sidewalks 
•pass. Around each column of the better class of portales are show cases filled 
with small wares, and in the poorer places second-hand goods are spread out on 
mats laid on the ground. The finest portales are on the Plaza Mayor, on the west 
side, and in front of the Ayuntamiento; others are the streets of Viejo Coliseo, 
Refugio, Tlapaleros, and in the old Plaza de Santo Domingo. The vendors 
always price their goods at about four times what they are willing to take, and, 
indeed, it is not always safe to offer one-fourth unless you really want to buy. 
Sundays and feast days are great days on the portales. 

The National Palace, on the Plaza Mayor, is built upon ground that was 
once the property of Cortez, who seems to have had an eye for valuable real 
estate, and a penchant for corner lots in town; however, before it became his 
property, " Montezuma's new house " was built on this spot. Later, Cortez built 
a palace here that remained in the possession of his heirs until 1562, when it was 



51 

bought by the Crown for the residence of the Viceroys. The Palace of to-day 
occupies an entire square, fronting nearly 700 feet on the Plaza Mayor. It is occu- 
pied by the President's offices, the Department of State, Treasury, War, Archives 
and other minor branches of the Federal Government. The long white walls 
afford no idea of the interior magnificence of the halls and salons. The Hall of 
the Ambassadors is a magnificent room, running nearly half the length of the 
front. It contains portraits of many of the presidents, statesmen and soldiers of 
Mexico, notably those of Hidalgo, Morelos, AUende Matamoras, Juarez and 




ON LA VIGA CANAL. 



Diaz, and our own Washington. Of the other pictures, that of the " Battle of the 
5th of May," and an allegorical work, "The Constitution," are the most worthy. 
The Senate holds its session in the Palace, but the House of Deputies occupies 
the old Yturbide Theatre, which was remodeled for congressional uses. 

The Mint, or Casa de Moneda, is one of three mints established by the King 
of Spain in 1535; the other two were in Santa Fe and Bolivia. The machinery is 
of the modern improved patterns. The stamps were made in the United States. 



52 

The coinage of Mexican money is let out by contract. Since the establishment of 
the mints, nearly $100,000,000 gold and $3,000,000,000 silver have been coined. Dur- 
ing Maximilian's reign, only §3,000,000 were coined, most of which was recoined 
into the dollars of the RepubUc. 

The National Library occupies the old Church of San Agustin, one of the 
many magnificent buildmgs of Mexico. It has gardens on two sides, separated 
from the streets by a high iron railing, the posts of which bear the busts of Mexi- 
can celebrities in literature and art. The Toltec races, the Spaniards and the 
later day Mexicans are all represented. In the great hall of the library, a splen- 
did room, are heroic statues of the greater lights of learning, from Confucius 
to Humboldt. 

The library contains nearly 200,000 volumes, comprising all branches of litera- 
ture, among which are some very ancient and valuable works. The library is 
open daily, except feast days, from 10 a.m. to 5 P. m. 

The National School of Fine Arts, commonly called the Academy of San 
Carlos, is of comparatively modern foundation. The school was opened in 1779, 
the royal decree issued in 1783, and formally opened on the 4th of November, 
1785. Painting in Mexico began as early as 1523, and sixty years later the art 
boasted some great students, native and Spanish, the greatest among whom were, 
perhaps, Tresguerras, painter, sculptor and architect, of Celaya, and Arteaga, 
Vasquez and Echave, of Spain, and the great woman artist, called La Sumaya, 
who painted the San Sabastian over the altar de Perdon in the Cathedral. Among 
the Indians were Cabrera of Oaxaca and Instolinque. 

The great mass of pictures are of religious subjects; among the most notable 
are the " Meeting of Mary and Elizabeth," "Adoration of the Magi," "Christ in 
the Garden," "The Holy Sepulchre," "Women of Samaria," "The Cruci- 
fixion," " Virgin of the Apochalypse," "Martyrdom of St. Laurena," " Virgin de 
la Purisima." 

There is a " San Juan de Dios," by Murillo, a replica of another of his in La 
Caridad de Sevilla. The other pictures, by the same artist, are "San Juan of the 
Desert," and " San Rafael." The examples of Rubens are his "Christ Tormented," 
and a portrait of the painter himself. There is also a San Sabastian by Van Dyke. 
The picture of the Dominican nun is said to be a portrait of Maria Ana of Austria, 
wife of Phillip IV. The building is open from 12 to 3 p. m., daily, and on Sundays 
and feast days from g A. M. to 3 P. M. 

The National Museum is one of the most interesting in the world, possess- 
ing, as it does, so many relics of the unwritten history of the mystic races of a 
mysterious age. 

The ground floor contains the great heavy monoliths that have been gathered 
here from all parts of the country. The Calendar Stone, for many years irn- 
bedded in the western tower of the Cathedral, was brought here in 1886. It is 
sometimes called the Stone of the Sun. 

The idol Huitzilopochtli was the war god of the ancient Mexicans. It is a 
combination of two figures, one of which is Teoyaomiqui, supposed to represent 
male and female. 

The Sacrificial Stone was unearthed in the Plaza Mayor, 1791. It is circular, 
a basin in the center with a channel to the rim, which was supposed to have car- 
ried off the blood of victims. 

El Indio Triste, " the sad Indian," was dug up in one of the streets of the 
City of Mexico, now called the Calle del Indio Triste, in the year 1S28. 

The group of serpents was a part of the wall of serpents of the city Tenochtitlan. 
The stones were found under one of the columns of the Cathedral in 1572, were 
buried again and resurrected in 1881. The Coiled Serpent is also a feathered 
serpent coiled in pyramidal shape, called in other countries by other names; in 



53 

Mexico it is Ouetzalcoatl, the god of morality, who is regarded by some writers 
as the Saint Thomas of these people. 

Chac-Mol, the " god of fire," is one of the most notable of the idols in the 
museum, a recumbent figure, holding with both hands a basin on the stomach. It 
was brought from Yucatan. Three other similar figures have been found in 
other parts of the country. 

The museum contains very many interesting relics of the later people of 
Mexico, in the time of the Montezumas. There are examples of Aztec picture- 
writings, representing the wanderings of the tribes, among which is a shield of 
Montezuma II. 

The banner of Hidalgo, bearing the image of the Virgin of Guadalupe, which 
the patriot priest took from the Santuario de Atontinilco, his gun, handkerchief, 




A PUBLIC LAUNDRY. 



chain and cane, are in the museum, as are also the red standard of the Conquest 
and a portrait of the Conqueror; also the arms, armor, helmet and breast plate 
of Alvarado. There are portraits of the Viceroys, the silver and state coach of 
Maximilian, together with articles innumerable connected with the history 
of Mexico. 

The Cathedral of the City of Mexico, the most ambitious church building in 
the Western world, is built upon the site of the great temple of the Aztecs, destroyed 
by Cortez shortly after his occupancy of the city. The first church, a small one, 
in 1523, was enlarged a few years later. The corner stone of the present 
Cathedral was laid in 1573; foundation and walls completed in 161 5; under roof 



54 

in 1623, and the first mass said three years later, but the final dedication was not 
made imtil 1667. The work was delayed between 1629 and 1635 by the overflow 
of this part of the City. The towers were completed in 1791, they alone costing 
$190,000, the entire work amounting to over $2,000,000. The great bell, called Santa 
Maria de Guadalupe, in the west tower, is 19 feet high and cost $10,000. The 
massive walls are built of cut stone and the roof is of arched work in brick and 
stone. The length of the building is 387 feet, the width 177 feet, with an interior 
heighth of 179 feet. The towers are 204 feet high, very handsome, and 
crowned with bell-shaped domes. The architect of the Cathedral was Alonzo 
Perez Castaneda. 

The interior is a marvel of carving and gilding, fluted columns, vaulted roofs, 
and altars gorgeously adorned. There are twenty fluted columns supporting the 
vaulted roof, which is in the shape of a Latin cross, and in the center of which is 
the very beautiful dome. 

The choir is in the center aisle, the immense organ .reaching high up under 
the arches. In front of it is a space inclosed by a railing made of a composite of 
gold, silver and copper. 

Under the altar of Los Reyes, the finest in the Cathedral, are buried the heads 
of Hidalgo, Allende, Aldama and Jimenez, brought here after the Independence 
of Mexico had been recognized. This Altar of the Kings was built by the artist 
of a similar altar in the Cathedral of Seville. Over the Altar of Pardon (Del 
Perdon) is a fine painting of San Sebastian, by the great woman artist, LaSumaya. 

There are several chapels on each side. The Chapel of San Felipe de Jesus 
contains some relics of that Saint and the font in which he was baptized. Here 
rest the bones of Yturbide the First, called the Liberator. La Capilla de las 
Reliquias contains portraits of martyrs by Herrera. The Chapel of San Pedro 
holds the remainsof Fray Juan de Zumarraga, the first Bishop of Mexico, and also 
those of the Mexican " Man with an Iron Mask," Gregorio Lopez, believed to 
have been a son of Phillip II. 

The Sacristy walls are completely covered with pictures, great paintings, the 
work of Juan Correa and Cristobal de Villalpando; m the Meeting Room are 
the portraits of all the Archbishops of Mexico. In the Chapter Room are three 
of the finest pictures, one, a Virgin of Bethlehem, by Murillo; another Virgin, by 
Cortona, and a representation of John of Austria, imploring the Virgin at the 
Battle of Lepanto, by a native artist. The Bishopric of Mexico was created by 
Pope Clement XII. in 1527, with Fray Juan de Zumarraga as first Bishop. The 
Archbishopric was created by Pope Paul II., January 31, 1545, when Bishop Zum- 
arraga was made Archbishop. 

La Capilla de las Animas is just in the rear of the main building. It was ded- 
icated to prayers for the release of souls from Purgatory, one priest, the good 
Don Cayetano Gil de la Concha, having said mass 45.324 times. 

The first parish church on the site now occupied by the Sagrariowas offi- 
ciated in by thechaplam of Cortez, Juan Diaz, until the year 1523. In 1524, four other 
parish churches were established: San Juan Bautista, named Moyotla; San Pablo, 
called Teopan; San Sebastian, called Atzacualco, and Nuestra Senora de la 
Asuncion, called Tlaquechiuhcan. Three of these are still parish churches, San 
Juan Bautista now being known as de la Penitencia. There are now fourteen 
parish churches, of which the following data relates: The Sagrario Metropoli- 
tano, a part of the Cathedral building, adjoining it on the east, founded in 1521, 
and dedicated to Santiago. The original building was destroyed by lire, and the 
present one completed in 1768. It is the handsomely carved facade just east of 
the front of the Cathedral. The decorations, mterior and exterior, are superb, and 
the pictures are by the best artists. The little Capilla de la Soledad is between the 
Sagrario and the Cathedral. 



55 



San Pablo was founded in 1569, and San Sebastian in 1524. Santa Maria la 
Redonda contains a miraculous image that was commenced by a certain pious 
Indian, who was called away from his work, and on his return found it com- 
pleted. In this church, also, was kept for many years the " feathered serpent," 
now in the Museum. 

Santa Vera Cruz was founded immediately after the Conquest. It contains 
a crucifix concealed in a shrine behind seven veils, which gives another name to 
the church, "El Senor de los Siete Velos," "the Lord of Seven Veils." To visit 
this church every Friday of the year obtains a plenary indulgence. 

Santa Cruz Acatlan was once a convent, and contains some fine pictures. 
Santa Cruz y Soledad was founded in 1534 as an Indian Mission. It contains a 
large image of Nuestra Senora del Rufugio. Santo Tomas de la Palma 

was founded in 1550. 
San Antonio was 
founded in 1593, and 
contains a miraculous 
image of San Antonio 
de Padua. It was 
from the tower of this 
church that Lieuten- 
ant Grant trained his 
gun on the village of 
San Cosme. Here 
also is the tomb of the 
Viceroy de Acuna, 
Marquis de Casa 
fuerte. The church 
contains a miraculous 
image of Nuestra Sen- 
ora de la Consolacion, 
within the tabernacle 
of the main altar; the 
picture is more than 
two hundred years 
old. 

Regina Coeli is 
the parish of the Salto 
del Agua, and was 
built in 1553. The 
interior is richly dec- 
orated with wood 
carvings and in bright colors and gold, and is one of the prettiest churches in 
Mexico. 

Santa Maria Martir contained some curious altars before the confiscation of 
church property. This was one of the richest parishes in the city. 

Santa Ana was built in 1754, and contains the font in which Juan Diego, the 
Indian to whom the Virgin of Gaudalupe appeared, was baptized. 

San Miguel was built in i6go. In this church is held annually, on the i8th of 
October, a solemn service to the patron Saint of the Butchers. The door is 
beautifully carved. 

San Jose dates from 1524, and was the first parish church of the Indians. 
The present building was finished about the year 1800, and was much injured by 
the earthquake of July 19, 1858. 




IN A FRUIT MARKET. 



56 



Reiigious Orders of Mexico — For three centuries after the Conquest, Mexico 
was practically under the rule of the church, and the various religious orders 
flourished in all their glory. 

The Jesuits were suppressed June 25, 1767, and finally expelled from the 
country in 1856. Other minor orders were suppressed by the Spanish Cortez in 
1820, and the few remaining orders were extinguished in 1859 by an order from 
President Juarez. At midnight on February 13, 1861, at the tolling of the bell of 
the Church of Corpus Christi, was the first act, and the nuns were removed from 
the various convents and concentrated in a number of small convents. On Feb- 
ruary 26, 1863, a law was passed suppressing female religious orders, except that 
of the Sisters of Charity, and the convents were required to be vacated within 
eight days. On December 14, 1874, the Order of the Sisters of Charity was sup- 
pressed. This law left Mexico without a monk or a nun, and so it remains 
to this day. 

The enforcement of the Laws of the Reform was made with more energy than 
charity, but it is consistent with the Mexican, when once he has made up his 
mind to do a thing, to do it, and a great many acts of vandalism were committed. 
Pictures were torn down, and in some cases the soldiers rode their horses into the 
churches, lassoed the Saints and dragged them from their pedestals. But, on the 
other hand, when some of the atrocities committed by the bigoted fanatics of the 
rehgious orders are considered, the acts of the soldiers of the Reform seem 
amply iustified. 

The order of San Francisco, in its history, is closely identified with 
that of Mexico, and the establishment of it was identical with that of the 
Conquest. In the Church of San Fran- 
cisco Cortez attended mass, and within 
its walls was sung the first Te Deum of 
Mexican Independence, and it was, 
indeed, a Law of Reform that could con- 
vert such a church into a Protestant 
Cathedral; so that to-day the only thing 
that remains of the great Church of San 
Francisco is the memory of it and its 
walls. 

The twelve founders of the order of 
San Francisco in Mexico were called the 
"Twelve Apostles of Mexico." They 
came from San Gabriel, in Spain, under 
the leadership of Fray Martin de Valen- 
cia, who has been called the " Father of 
Mexican Churches," and who 
" with his own hands reducec 
no less than 170,000 Pagan 
idols to dust." 

The twelve Apostles 
landed at Vera Cruz on the 
23d of May, 1524, and from the 
coast they walked to the Valley of Mexico. 
At Texcoco they were joined by Fray Pedro de 
Gante, who walked with them to Mexico. The 
Apostles arrived in the City of Mexico on the 23d of June, having occupied just 
one month in their weary tramp. 

The work of the Franciscans was rapidly extended and provinces established 
throughout New Spain. The first hou^e of the Franciscans was on the site of the 




WANDERING MINSTRELS. 



57 




present church at Santa Teresa la Antigua. Afterwards they were established 
on the lands which had formerly been the zoological garden of the kings of 
Tenochtitlan. Their first church was built from huge stones taken from the 

great teocali. The grounds were 
in the center of the city bounded 
by the present streets of Zuleta, 
San Juan de Letran, Coliseo, and 
the first San Francisco. The 
garden is now the garden of the 
Hotel Jardin, and the hotel itself 
was the residence of the chiefs 
of the order. The stable east 
of the garden was the refectory 
of the monastery, in which was 
a room where 500 of the broth- 
ers could sit down together at 
meat. The present Church of 
San Francisco was dedicated in 
1716, and while greatly injured 
during the war of the reform, 
it is still one of the most 
interesting churches in 
Mexico, and one of the most 
elegantly decorated. The 
silver tabernacle of the altar 
alone cost $24,000. Originally 
PULQUE SHOP. the groupwas called the Seven 

Churches of San Francisco: El Senor de Burgos; the Chapel of Dolores; the 
Tercer Orden, aud Nuestra Senora de Aranzazu, facing on San Francisco Street; 
San Jose de los Naturales, on Gante Street, and the main churches. The Church 
of Nuestra Senora de Aranzazu, on San Francisco Street, excepting that part of 
the group on Gante Street now occupied by the Protestants, is the only one of 
the churches remaining, and this has been made a new church by the recent addi- 
tion to the front of the old building. 

The portion of the Church of Tercer Orden may be seen between the walls 
of the houses on First San Francisco Street. The chapel was destroyed in 
1862. The Church of San Jos6 de los Naturales was destroyed in 1862, and the 
building was removed for the opening of Gante Street. 

On the 14th of September, 1856, information reached President Comonfort 
that a conspiracy had been formed among the brotherhood of San Francisco to 
overthrow his government and to re-establish the clerical party, and that the rev- 
olution was to take place on the i6th of September. On the morning of the 15th, 
which is Independence Day in Mexico, the president sent his troops to the monas- 
tery, and arrested the entire community of monks. On the i6th he issued a 
decree for the opening of the new street to be called Independencia, which 
should be directed through the monastery. On the i8th he issued another decree 
suppressing the monastery, which was rescinded February 19, 1857. On the 27th 
of December, i860, Juarez ignored the latter decree and put in effect the original 
one of July 12, 1859. The monastery was closed; the jewels, decorations and 
paintings removed from the church to the Academy of Fine Arts; the altar was 
destroyed and the bell taken from the tower; the building of houses com- 
menced, and in the following spring the street was cut through the old monas- 
tery grounds. The street was called Gante, in honor of one of the prominent 
members of the order of San Francisco. 



58 

Santiago Tfalteleco, the domed charch, was established in the year 1543, 
and in 1537, a college for the instruction of the Indians was established. After 
being closed several times, the college finally came to an end in 181 1. The life- 
size equestrian statue of Santiago was removed to the Church of Santa Maria, 
and the font in which Juan Diego was baptized was placed in the Church of 
Santa Ana. 

Santo Domingo — The Dominicans arrived in Mexico on the 23d of June, 
1526. Their first building was on the site of the present College of Medicine. 
In 1530 they removed to the monastery near the present Church of Santo Do- 
mingo, and the first church was completed in 1575; the present church was ded- 
icated in August, 1736. It is one of the best in the city and contains some very 
handsome pictures, and an elegantly carved altar, with magnificent decorations. 
Another church of the Dominicans was Porta Coeli, founded in 1603, in connec- 
tion with a college, which was suppressed in i860. 

The Inquisition, for which the Dominicans, through their leader. Saint Dom- 
inick, were directly responsible, came to Mexico in 1527, and in 1529 the first 
council of the Inquisition was held in the City of Mexico. 

The President of the Audencia was Bishop Fuenleal; the other members were 
the Bishops of Mexico, the chiefs of Dominican and Franciscan orders, members 
of the City Council and two private citizens. The Audencia announced its delib- 
eration as follows: "It is most necessary that the holy offices of the Inquisition 
shall be extended to this land, because of the commerce with strangers here 
carried on, and because of the many Corsairs abounding on our coast, which 
strangers may bring their evil customs among both natives and Castillians, who 
by the grace of God should be kept free from heresy." 

August 16, 1570, Don Pedro Moya de Contreraswas appointed Inquisitor Gen- 
eral for New Spain. The royal order exempted Indians from the jurisdiction of 
the tribunal. On the site of the present College of Medicine was the first head- 
quarters of the Inquisition; in later years the present building was finished, and 
in 1736 was occupied by that tribunal. 

The brasero, or burning place, was on the grounds now occupied by Alameda, 
on which was erected a platform with stakes, to which was fastened the con- 
demned to be burned; being raised above the ground, the burning could be easily 
seen by the people. When the burning was completed, the ashes were thrown 
into the marsh near the Church of San Diego. The first burning, by order of the 
Inquisition in Mexico, was in 1574, at which time were burned "twenty-one pesti- 
lent Lutherans." After this very many persons were executed in this place, 
though many of them were mercifully strangled before being burned. 

April loth, 1649, fifteen persons were burned, though only one, Thomas Trevino, 
a Spaniard, was burned alive, his offence being that of having " cursed the holy 
office and the Pope;" the others were burned after being strangled. The end of 
the Inquisition began in 1812, was re-established in 1814 for only a short 
time, then finally suppressed, by the revival of the original order of 1812, on 
May 31, 1820. 

Among other acts of the Inquisition was the execution of the patriot Morelos, 
who was declared "an unconfessed heretic, an abettor of heresy, and a dis- 
turber of Ecclesiastical hierarchy; profaner of the Holy Sacraments; a traitor to 
God, to the King, and to the Pope." The sentence of the Inquisition was that 
the condemned do penance in a penant's dress. He was shot December 22d, 
1815, in persuance to this decision of the Inquisition. A great many cruel acts of 
this bloody body of merciless priests have never been placed on record, and 
their cowardly acts will never be known until all secrets are revealed. 

The life of the Inquisition was a reign of terror wherever its courts existed. 
Few but the bravest had the temerity to make even a defence. It is related that 



59 



a certain colonel of a Mexican cavalry regiment was summoned to appear before 
the Inquisition, who were assembled in their diabolical and nefarious court, in the 
present building of the College of Medicine. He obeyed the summons, but did 
not go alone. He ordered out the regiment and marched to the door of the build- 
ing in which the Inquisition was seated; drawing them up in line, he spoke to his 
men and told them that he had been summoned before the court; that if he did 
not return in twenty minutes they should enter the building and come to him. 
The colonel returned withm twenty minutes. The cowardly Inquisitors had not 
the moral courage to detain him a single minute. They held highly their own 
lives, though others were regarded so cheaply. 

The Church of San Agustin was established in Mexico in 1533. The cor- 
ner stone was laid in 1541, and at the completion of the church, which was of 
magnificent proportion, the cost exceeded a quarter of a million dollars. 

The first church was 
destroyed by fire in 1676, 
and the new church 
dedicated in 1692. In 
t'nis church is now estab- 
lished the National 
Library. 

San Hipolito is one 
cf the most interesting 
churches in Mexico. It 
is located on the spot 
where the great slaugh- 
ter of the Spaniards oc- 
curred on the memorable 
Noche Triste, "the dis- 
mal night." The first 
church was of adobe, 
afterwards replaced by 
a more pretentious 
building, commenced in 
1599, dedicated in 1739; 
it is called also the 
Church of the Martyrs, 
from the great number 
of soldiers who lost their 
lives on this spot. On 
the wall surrounding the 
church is a tablet bear- 
ing the record, with a representation of an eagle carrying an Indian in its 
talons and this inscription in Spanish: " So great was the slaughter of Spaniards 
by the Aztecs, in this place, on the night of July i, 1520, named for this reason 
'the dismal night,' that after, in the following year, re-entering the city triumph- 
antly, the conquerors resolved to build here a chapel, to be called the Chapel of 
the Martyrs, and which should be dedicated to San Hipolito, because the capture 
of the city occurred on that Saint's day." For many years afterward the 13th of 
August was celebrated as a feast, called "The Procession of the Banner," in which all 
of the great officers of the state, city and church took part, and in which was carried 
the crimson banner of Cortez, which is now preserved in the National Museum. 
Nuestra Sefiora de Loreto — The Jesuits of this order, founded by Ignatius 
Loyola, arrived in Mexico in 1572, and erected their first church in 1576; they im- 
mediately found themselves in conflict with the Dominicans, and were finally 




THE PRESIDENT'S DESK, CHAPULTEPEC 



60 

suppressed in 1856. The present cnurch was Begun in 1809 and completed in 
1816; it contains some very notable paintings. The church was closed from 
1832 to 1850 on account of the sinking of the walls, resulting from the inundation 
of the valley, but on examination it was found that the settling of the walls did 
not render it dangerous. They were never repaired, and it is known at this time 
as the Church of the Leaning Tower. 

Nuestra Senora de la Merced — The Order of Our Lady of Mercy was one 
of the first to be established in Mexico, one of its members having come with 
Cortez. The first church and convent was founded in 1601. There seems to have 
been some difficulty in obtaining the land desired for the building of the church, 
a street occupying the desired spot. The brothers of the order made application, 
for the use of the street, but were refused. They paid no attention to the refusal, 
and one night built two walls across the ends of the street and closed it up. The 
first stone of the church was laid March 20, 1634, and dedicated twenty years 
later. In i860 the church was partially destroyed, and the grounds of the con- 
vent are now occupied by the Merced Market. 

San Diego — The foundation of the Church of San Diego was commenced in 
1591, but the church was not completed until 1621, on the spot just west of 
the Alameda. The church is elegantly decorated, and has some very hand- 
some pictures. 

The Chapel of Los Dolores is one of the prettiest chapels of all the churches 
of Mexico. 

Belen de los Padres — This church was founded in 1678, and completed 
and dedicated in 1735. 

Nuestra Senora del Carmen — The first Carmelite church of Mexico was 
established in Mexico in 1605. 

Nuestra Senora de Monserrate — The church of this name was built in 
1590. The brothers of the order introduced into Mexico many of the fruits and 
vegetable products of Europe. There are a number of fine pictures in the church. 

San Juan de Dies — The first chapel was built in 1582, and the present church 
dedicated May 16, 1629. 

Betlemitas — The corner stone of this church was laid June 2, 1681; the 
church was dedicated September 29, 1687. The order of the Betlemitas was sup- 
pressed in 1820; the monastery was used as the Military School, and the church 
transferred into a Public Library. 

Colegio de las Ninas was founded in 1548 as a school for poor girls of the 
better class. 

San Fernando — The corner stone of this church was laid in 1735. It is one 
of the largest in the city, but was badly damaged by the earthquake of June 19, 
1858. It contains some very handsome pictures. 

San Lazaro — The Hospital of San Lazaro was the outcome of an attempt 
by Cortez to establish a hospital for lepers, and was founded in 1572. The 
church was built in 1721, with a cost of over $100,000, with an organ that cost 
$10,000. 

San Antonio Abad — The brothers of this order established a church in 1628, 
with a hospital for contagious diseases, located in the southern part of the city, a 
locality which is still known by that name, as are several streets and gates. 

La Profesa-— This church is more properly known as San Jose el Real, dedi- 
cated August 28, 1720. The property of this company was in the very center of 
the city and very valuable. The first church was destroyed by the earthquake of 
April 4, 1768. The present church is one of the most elegant in the city. The 
interior is finely decorated in white and gold; the main altar is magnificent in 
drapings of crimson velvet, embroidered with gold. It is in this day one of 
the most fashionable churches in the city. The location is at the corner of 



61 



Third San Francisco and the Calle Profesa, the garden of the church fronting 
on San Francisco Street. 

San Camilo was estabhshed in 1755. The church is handsomely decorated in 
white and gold, and exists now under the name of the Church of the Semi- 
nario Conciliar. 

La Balvanera — This convent and church was founded in 1573; the corner 
stone was laid in 1667, and the church dedicated four years later. 

Santa Clara — The Church of Santa Clara was completed on the 22d of Octo- 
ber, 1661. This and the convent was destroyed by fire in 1755. The present 
church dates from 1756. The church remains open, but the convent is occupied 
as a stable. 

Nuestra Sefiora de la Concepcion — This order was founded in Mexico in 
1541. The present church was built at a cost of nearly §300,000. The tower is 
one of the highest in the city; over the altar is an image of the Virgin Purisima 
Concepcion. Back of the organ there was a continuous dropping of water, the 
source of which could not be found. After a diligent search of the roof, the 

source of the water was not discovered until 
after a vision to one of the nuns, to the effect 
that the dropping of the water marked the 
years of the convent's existence, and that when 
the water ceased to fall would be the end of 
the convent. In the days of the convents of 
Mexico this was one of the most fashionable, 
the nuns coming from the first families in Mex- 
ico. When the property was confiscated by the 
government it was valued at nearly $2,000,000. 

Jesus Maria — This was originally the con- 
vent to be recruited from the descendants of 
the conquerors; the first nuns entered the con- 
vent February 10, 1580. About the year 1582 
there came to this convent a nun who was the 
daughter of Phillip II. of Spain, and the niece 
of the then Archbishop of Mexico and the first 
Inquisitor General of Mexico. This made the 
convent one of royalty, and it was maintained 
under direction from the Crown. The corner 
stone was laid March 9, 1597, and the church 
completed in 162 1. 

San Geronimo — This convent was founded in 1586. It is notable from the 
fact that Juana Inez de la Cruz, the great poetess and writer, became a nun and 
lived here many years, dying in the convent April 17, 1695. 

Santa Catalina de Sena — The corner stone was laid August 16, 161 5, and 
dedicated March 7, 1623. 

San Juan de la Penitencia was founded in 1524 in a part of the city 
called Moyotla. In the church there is a wooden figure of the Child Jesus that 
a legend says saved the church at the time of a great earthquake. The upraised 
arm of the figure stopped the falling of the walls, after which miracle the figure 
was regarded with great veneration. The corner stone of the church was laid 
February 6, 1695, and dedicated on January 24, 171 1. 

Nuestra Senora de la Encarnacion — The convent of this order is one of 
the best preserved in the country, at the same time one of the finest, and 
during the convent days was one of the richest establishments, the church alone 
costing over $100,000, and the ceremonies of dedication over $3,000. In this con- 
vent were deposited many of the pictures taken from other convents. After the 




PALACE PATK 



62 

confiscation by the government, it became a law school. The value of the prop- 
erty taken by the government was over $1,000,000. The main altar of the 
church is a mass of gold and carvings. 

San Bernardo — The corner stone was laid in 1685; the church dedicated 
June 18, ibgo. 

Corpus Christ! — This church was originally a convent, into which only girls 
of noble families and high caste Indians were received. The corner stone was 
laid September 12, 1720, and dedicated July 10, 1724. In taking the veil the 
novices were dressed in Indian costumes of the richest design. 

Santa Brigida, the most fashionable church in Mexico, was completed De- 
cember 21, 1744. Upon the confiscation of church property, Santa Brigida was 
bought by a rich Mexican family and held in trust for church purposes. 

Santa Inez — The church was dedicated July 20, 1770. The fine entrance is 
richly carved in wood. The convent was closed during the Laws of the Reform, 
but the church was opened again in 1883. 

San Lorenzo was founded in 1598. The present church was dedicated July 
15, 1650. The convent is now used as a School of Arts. 

San Jose de Gracia — The church was built about the year 1610, and rebuilt 
in 1658, the aedication taking place November 24, 1661. 

Santa Teresa la Antigua — The corner stone was laid October 8, 1678, and 
the dedication took place September 10, 1684. The crucifix of this church was 
brought from Spain in 1545. After a lapse of time the crucifix became injured 
and was thrown into the fire to be burned; the fire failing to have any effect on 
it, it was buried and later resurrected, and it was found that its freshness had been 
wonderfully renewed. The crucifix was first placed in a little mining town called 
Cardonal, in the State of Hidalgo. During the repairs of the church, made 
necessary by an earthquake, the crucifix was placed in the Cathedral and brought 
again to this church May 9, 1858. 

Santa Teresa la Nueva — The corner stone of this church was laid Septem- 
ber 21, 1701; dedicated in 1715. 

Ensefianza Antigua— The church was dedicated November 23, 1754. It is 
now partly occupied by the Palace of Justice and partly for a school for the 
blind. The new church of the same name was intended exclusively for the edu- 
cation of Indian girls. 

The College of the Sisters of Mercy, located on the Plaza de Villamil, was 
built at the cost of nearly §200,000, and was intended exclusively for Indian girls 
of great beauty. It was called the Colegio de las Bonitas (the college of the pretty 
girls), and was finally used for the convent of the Sisters of Charity. The church 
called La Caridad is elegantly built, with magnificent interior decorations in 
white and gold; dedicated May 8, 1854, at which General Santa Ana acted as 
padrino, or godfather. The Sisters of Charity were the last of the nuns to leave 
Mexico, departing in January and February, 1875. 

Jesus Nazareno — This church was founded by Conqueror Hernando Cortez 
about the year 1524, but the church was not completed until 1575, and dedicated 
nearly a hundred years later, in 1665. In this church is the image of Nuestra 
Senora de la Bala. In the chancel of the church, under a handsome marble mon- 
ument, at one time reposed the bones of Cortez. It was the will of Cortez that, 
should he die in Spain, his bones, after ten years, should be brought to Mexico 
and deposited in a convent which he proposed to build at Coyoacan, but the con- 
vent was never built. Cortez died December 2, 1547, in the town of Castilleja de 
la Questa, and the body buried in great state in the chapel of the Duke of Medina 
Sidonia. At the appointed time the bones were brought to Mexico, and first 
placed in the Church of San Francisco, at Texcoco, where they remained until 
1629. On the 30th of January of that year his grandson, and last of the male 




63 

line, Don Pedro Cortez, died and was buried, and with 
him the bones of his grandfather, in the Church of San 
Francisco in the City of Mexico, on the 
24th of February, 1630. On the 2nd of 
July, 1794, the bones of Cortez were again 
removed to the marble tomb in the 
Church of Jesus Nazareno. In the time 
of the revolt against Spain, the hatred of 
the Spaniards was so intense that it was 
thought best to remove the remains of 
Cortez to some place not so well known, 
and on the night of September 15, 1823, 
they were hidden in another part of the 
church, and afterwards secretly removed 
SECTION OF OLD AQUEDUCT CITY OF MEXICO. ^o Italy, whcrc they are now in the vaults 

of the Duke of Monteleone. 
Nuestra Senora de los Angeles — There is a tradition concerning the found- 
ing of this church, that says that an Indian chief named Isayoque found a beau- 
tiful picture of a Virgin floating upon the water of the inundation of 1580, and he 
built a shrine or adobe immediately upon the spot where he found the picture and 
where the sanctuary now stands. The origmal picture was not kept in the chapel, 
but an exact copy of it was made on the walls of the shrine. In the year 1595 a 
more elegant chapel was built over the other on which the picture was painted. 
There were many angels upon the picture, so that the church became known as 
" Our Lady of the Angels." It was completed in the year 1808. The picture is kept 
in a glass case, so that it is impossible to tell on what substance it is painted, as, 
also, only the face and hands can be seen, the other portions of the picture being 
concealed in a dress made for it by a very pious tailor. In the church is also a 
life-sized picture of Santiago. 

Salto del Agua — The corner stone was laid March 19, 1750, and became a 
parish church in 1772. The name is derived from the fact that it is near the 
fountain at the end on the aqueduct of Chapultepec. 

La Santisima Trinidad was founded about the year 1658. The present 
church was begun in 1755, and dedicated in January, 1783. The building has a 
very handsome fagade and two very fine towers. 

Schools and Colleges — In the City of Mexico there are many public schools 
supported by the city government, for which there is a special appropriation of 
$150,000. The number of schools in the district is over 300, attended by over 
20,000 pupils, which include the private and parochial. The schools are mainly 
housed in buildings that were convents or churches. 

A Conservatory of Music was established by a Royal Order of the Emperor, 
Charles V., September 25, 1551, and the institution opened January 25, 1553. The 
present building was erected in 1787, and the Conservatory of Music was estab- 
lished here in 1877. ^^^ the interior are some beautiful cloisters surrounding the 
patio, in which is a pretty garden. There is a fine and elegantly-decorated 
concert hall, and a handsome stairway, over which is a painting by Vallejo. The 
Conservatory has a fine library and collection of music. 

School of Medicine — The decree authorizing a School of Medicine was made 
March 16, 1768. The building was formerly occupied by the Inquisition. It has 
a fine audience hall, committee rooms, cabinets of chemistry, natural science 
and library. 

School of Mines — The department of mines was founded May 4, 1777, and 
the permission for the school was granted by the Royal Order in 1783. The 
building was completed April 3, 1813, at a cost of nearly $2,000,000. The build- 



64 



ing is one of the finest, in point of size and architecture, in the city. It has fine 
patios, galleries and stairways, and a splendid audience hall. The chapel 
has a fine altar in bronze. There is a good library, astronomical and 
meteorological instruments, observatory, cabinets of splendid specimens of 
geology and mineralogy. When General Grant was in Mexico, he was enter- 
tained and lived in this building. 

Preparatory School — The school was authorized in 1588. The present 
building was completed in 1749, at a cost of nearly one half million dollars, 
and is a very handsome one, containing patios, surrounded by portales, and has 
all the apparatus for the study of chemistry, philosophy and natural history. 

The School of Agriculture was founded in 1854, and is located in an 
hacienda near the suburb of Tacuba. 

Lancasterian Society — Schools were opened in 1822. 

Benevolent Society — Schools were founded in 1842. 

Catholic Society — Schools are about twenty-five in number. 

Commercial College is located in the building near that of the School 
of Mines. 

The Law School is established in an old convent of the Encarnacion. 

The Catholic Theological Seminary was established in 1691, and occupies 
the old Monastery of San Camdo. 

Hospital de Jesus Nazareno — This hospital was founded by Cortez in the 
year 1590, and is maintained by an endowment made in the will of the Conqueror. 

Hospital de San Hipolito — The present building was erected in the year 
1773, and was used as a military hospital during the revolutions, and latterly as 
a medical college. 

Hospital del Divino Salvador was opened in 1700. 

Hospital de San Andres was established as a pesthouse during the plague 
of smallpox in the year 1779. It is now operated by the Municipal Government, 
and includes a department for the treatment of diseases of the eye. 

Hospital Morelos stands on the spot of its predecessor, erected in 1582, for 
the care of mixed races, Indians and mulattoes. 

Hospital Municipal Juarez — The first patients received in this hospital were 
the wounded men from the battle with the Americans at Padierna, August 19, 
1847, s-J^^ '^^s used as a military hospital during the 
American War. 

Hospital Concepcion Beistigui was founded March 
21, 1886, in the old convent of Regina Coeli, and is one % 

of the best hospitals in the City. "m 

Casa de Maternidad was erected April 10, 1865, ^ 

under the imperial decree of Maximilian and under 
the presidency of Empress Carlotta, 
who, after her return to Europe, sent 
a fine set of 
surgical instru- 
ments and a 
large amount 
of money for 
the support of 
the hospital. 

Foreign 
Hospitals — 
The American, 
French and 
Spanish Colo- 




65 




nies each have a hospital in different parts of the city, located in private dwell- 
ings, or houses that were private dwellings. 

La Cuna is a Foundling Asylum. The word La Cuna literally means the 
cradle. It was estabUshed January 1 1, 1766. It had an endowment fund of about 
50,000, but is now supported by the city. The children are 
taught useful arts as well as the primary branches of educa- 
tion. 

Hospicio de Pobres is literally a poorhouse. It was 
opened March 19, 1774, and has a subsidy from the govern- 
ment of $1,000 per month. 

Monte de Piedad is a national pawnshop, an institution 

that is really a charity. As an effect to prevent the extortion 

of pawnbrokers, such an institution is found in most 

«r every city and town in Mexico, and might be of bene- 

.. fit to the people if adopted in this country. 

The Monte de Piedad was opened in the City 
of Mexico February 25, 1776, and was finally 
removed to the present building opposite the 
Cathedral. Originally no interest was charged 
on loans, it being left to the borrowers to make a 
gift to charity on the return of his pledge. Of 
course this privilege was abused, and regular 
rate of interest was fixed, but even in the pres- 
ent arrangement they are most liberal. When 
an article of value is brought to the 
national pawnshop, a loan something 
like its true worth is made. After a 
certain length of time, if the pledges are 
not redeemed, they are exposed for sale 
;^at a price, of course, higher than the 
amount of the loan. In a month this price 
is marked down, and in another month 
marked still lower. The borrower is 
privileged to redeem the pledge at any 
time before its sale, and if the article is sold for more than amount of loan, the 
excess less the interest, and original amount of loan is paid to the borrower. The 
business of the institution amounts to over $1,000,000, distributed amongst 60,000 
borrowers. This it one of the most interesting places to tourists, and often relics 
or interesting pieces of bric-a-brac may be found there. 

Colegio de la Paz — This institution was established by the charity of some 
rich merchants, who desired to establish a school or asylum for poor children. 
The corner stone of the building was laid in 1734, and was dedicated to San 
Ignacio Loyola. The school shows to-day a cost of nearly $2,000,000. The 
direction of the institution is managed by the government, and is one of the most 
extensive institutions in the city. 

The Plaza de la Constitucion is the main Plaza; on the north side is 
the Cathedral; on the east the National Palace; on the south the Casa Municipal 
or Ayuntamiento, and on the west side a perfect bazaar of handsome shops 
under a fine portal. The Plaza Mayor is also referred to as the zocalo, a word 
meaning "foundation," derived from the foundation laid about fifty years ago 
for a monument to Mexican Independence, that was never built. The zocalo 
proper now supports a music pavilion, where military bands play for the poorer 
classes on Sundays, feast days and certain evenings of week days. When this 
great city was Tenochtitlan, and a capital of the Toltecs and the Aztecs, the 




PULQUE VENDOR. 



Plaza was occupied by the temple and its gardens. Just after the Conquest 
the square was occupied by numerous and sundry small buildings and shops, 
and was a sort of market. These, by a Royal Order dated January i8, 1611, 
were ordered removed, but it was nearly fifty years before the order was obeyed. 
On the i6th of November, 1658, a fire broke out in these buildings and greatly 
assisted in carrying out the King's order; the hucksters who escaped the fire were 
ordered to go at once to the present Volador market site. After a while the shops 
came back, but were all destroyed in the great riots of June 8, 1692, caused by 
the famine of that year, when for vengeance for the murder of one of their, num- 
ber the Indians assaulted the palaces of the Archbishop and the Viceroy, 
built fires at the doors and fed the flames with the demolished shops of the Plaza. 
The fire was lost sight of in the terrors of the riot, and the loss was over $3,000,000. 
April 19, 1703, a handsome stone building erected by the Ayuntamiento was 
completed, with accommodations for merchants, that was called the Parian or 
bazaar, and with this example before them the shops came back. An old picture 
shows them and the gallows in front of the Viceroyal palace, with the frame for 
criminals' heads. This was the state of affairs until the coming of the Viceroy 
Conde de Revillagigedo in 1789, who removed the shops, gallows and criminals' 
heads and effected a great many reforms in the way of cleaning up and drainage, 
and made the Plaza the beautiful place it is. The Parian was the center of the 
retail trade of the city then, but in the present time largely extends to other 
streets. Durmg the revolution of 1828 the stores were looted and the stolen goods 
publicly sold in the Plazuelaof 
Santo Domingo. The Pariati 
was demolished in 1843, ^"^^ 
the trade went to San Fran- 
cisco and Plateros Streets. 

A wooden, gilded statue 
of Charles IV. was placed in 
the Plaza November 9, 1803, 
and subsequently removed. 
As it is the center of the city, 
the Plaza Mayor is the heart 
of it; here the people come 
from all the other towns 
round about, and here they 
come to start home again. 
All the car lines to all parts 
of the city and to the sub- 
urbs, arrive at and depart 
from the Plaza Mayor. 

The Plaza Senninario is 
simply a part of the Plaza 
Mayor on the north side, 
adjoming the Cathedral. It 
contains a monument to En- 
rique Martinez, the engineer 
who conducted the cutting of 
the great Nochistongo Canal. 
The monument shows inter- 
esting data of the rise and fall of the waters at different periods. The bronze 
figure on the monument is emblematic of the City of Mexico. 

La Alameda— Every Mexican town has its Alameda, a park of recreation; 
the name is derived from alamos, poplars, the trees first planted in the Alameda 




67 



of the City of Mexico. Previous to 1592 the place of the Alameda was occupied 
by the Tianquis de San Hipolito, an Indian market, and a part of it was called 
the Plaza del Querendaro, from the stone platform that was erected here for the 
burning of criminals and the victims of the Inquisition. The Viceroy Marques 
de Croix, hail to his memory, ordered this querendaro or murder removed, at the 
risk of his own life at the hands of the 
murderers who erected it for the heresy 
in daring to undo their villainous work; 
but the querendaro was removed and 
the Alameda established, and became 
the pretty park and resort of the fash- 
ionables. In its early days the Alameda 
was inclosed by a high wooden fence 
and later by a stone wall and the iron 
gates that had been around the statue of 
Charles IV. in the Plaza Mayor. 
A moat was dug around the 
outside of the wall. The fences 
and walls were removed in i 
and the moat filled up; 
roses were planted, 
fountains estab- 
lished, the beauti- 
ful music pagodas 
built and the Ala- 




meda became the charming resort and place of promenades. There is music 
Sundays and feast days from 11 A. M. to i P. M. The fashionable folk come to 
listen, to see and be seen. Here is held, also, the Feast of the Flowers and the 
fiestas on the national days that the Mexicans celebrate. 

Paseo de La Viga runs along the banks of the Viga Canal, and was intended 
to be the fashionable drive, but it is as interesting as it is not fashionable, for 
fashion has taken itself entirely to the Paseo de la Reforma. The drive along 
La Viga or a voyage by gondola is especially interesting during the Feast of 



68 

Flowers about Easter time, when the banks of the canal, the boats and the houses 
are almost buried in flowers. About half way down the Paseo is a bust of 
Guatimotzin, the last of the Aztec kings. 

Paseo de Bucareli starts from the glorieta of Charles IV. and runs south- 
ward to the Garita de lielen. Midway of the Paseo is a handsome fountain and 
Statue of Victory erected in 1829, in honor of Guerrero. 

Calazadas are causeways. There were three of them that in ancient days 
extended from the city to the main land. The southern causeway was called 
Acachinanco, that diverged at San Antonio Abad in two causeways, one leading to 
Coyoacan and the other to Ixtapalapan; the latter was used by Cortez in his 
approach to the city, and his first meeting with Montezuma, which occurred at 
the corner of Calle Pajaand Calle Jesus. The western causeway led toTacuba, or. 




CORTEZ HOUSE, COYOACAN. 



as the old town was called, Tlacopan, and was the shortest one to the main land, and 
for this reason was kept open by Cortez for the purpose of possible retreat, after 
his sad experiences of the Noche Triste, which occurred on this calzada. The 
calzada to the northward led to Tepeyac, now called Tepeyacac, and was miproved 
and enlarged by the celebrated Fray Juan de Torquemada, of the then monastery 
of Tlalteloco. 

The causeway to Guadalupe was commenced in 1675 and finished m 1676, at 
which time it had a large glorieta midway, but now fallen into decay. There are 
fifteen beautiful shrines of stone, elegantly sculptured, setat regular intervals, and 
dedicated to the fifteen parts of the rosary. In front of these shrines the walking 



69 



pilgrims stopped to pray. The shrines, glorieta and arched bridges are disap- 
pearing and the calzada has come to the baser uses of the railway. The Mexican 
Railway line runs along the causeway on the route to Vera Cruz. 

Aqueducts were, until very recently, the means of conveyance of the city's 
water supply. The water is now conveyed in pipes, and the picturesque aque- 
ducts are disappearing. The great aqueduct that brought the water from the 
mountains of Leones near the Desierto, over stone arches, commenced at Las 
Cruces, about four miles out, passed by Chapultepec, and by the Alameda where 
the people climbed upon the arches to get a view of the burning of the victims 
of the Inquisition. This aqueduct was built under the direction of the Viceroy 
Marques de Montes Claros in 1603-7. There are nearly a thousand arches of 
stone and brick, laid on a foundation of stone, with a coping and water channel 
also of stone. The aqueduct from the springs of Chapultepec is the one that 
ends in the beautiful fountain called the Salto del Agua, one of the most inter- 




esting relics of the Spanish age in Mexico. It was built 

under the admmistration of the Viceroy Don Antonio 

Maria de Bucareli, and completed in March, 1779. An 

inscription over one of the arches in Spanish, says; 

"The course of this aqueduct is identical with that of 

the aqueduct built by the Aztecs during the reign of 

Chimalpopoca, who was granted the use of water of 

Chapultepec by the King of Atzcapotzalco, to whom 

the Aztecs were subject until the reign of Itzcohuatl, 

when they gained their independence." The aqueduct is rapidly disappearing, 

the material being used for the macadamizing of the suburban roads, and the 

water is now conveyed in iron pipes. 



70 

Monuments — The monuments and statues of Mexico are unique and apart 
from other monuments and statues in other parts of the world. The most notable 
and the oldest of Mexico's monuments, and the largest single piece of bronze in 
the world, is the great equestrian statue of Charles IV., at the junction of the 
Avenida Juarez and the Paseo de la Reforma. 

It was originally intended to place this statue in the Plaza Mayor, and pend- 
ing the castnig of the bronze, a wooden model, gilded, was placed there on the 
pedestal prepared for the present statue. The casting was made in the gardens 
of San Gregorio. 




OLD BRIDGE, COYOACAN. 

Two days were required to fuse the mass of more than thirty tons of 
bronze, and the work was completed at 6 o'clock, on the morning of August 4, 
1802, when the first piece of bronze statuary in America came from the mould 
without a flaw. 

The statue was placed upon its pedestal in the Plaza Mayor and unveiled with 
impressive ceremonies December g, 1804, where it remained until 1822, at which 
time the feeling against Spain was so bitter that it was covered by a huge wooden 
globe in blue; but this did not protect it from patriotic insult, and it was taken 
down in 1824 and removed to the patio of the University, where it remained until 
1852; the ardor of the feeling of the Mexicans against the Spaniards having cooled, 
it was placed where it now stands in 1852. It is a soHd, single piece of bronze, 
15 feet 9 inches high, weighing thirty tons or more. The king is dressed in royal 
robes, with a wreath of laurel on his brow, holding in his right hand the sceptre 



71 



of Spain. The horse is in the act of walking, the left fore foot and the right hind 
foot being raised. The statue is of magnificent proportions and drawn in per- 
fect hnes. The sculptor was Don Manuel Tolsa; the casting was made by Don 
Salvador de la Vega. 

The statue of Columbus, in a glorieta of the Paseo de la Reforma, was one of 
the first monuments to the discoverer erected on the continent he discovered, and 
one of the handsomest ever raised. The base is ornamented on its four sides by 
basso-relievos; the arms of Columbus in laurel wreaths; the rebuilding of the 
monastery of La Rabida; the discovery of San Salvador; a fragment of Col- 
umbus' letter to Raphadi Sauris, and the dedication of the donor, 
Sefior Escandon. On the four corners are life-size figures, 




A FAMILY GATHERING. 

in bronze, of Padre Marchena of La Rabida; Padre Fray Diego Dehesa, confes- 
sor of King Ferdinand; Fray Pedro de Gante, and Fraye Bartolome de las Casas. 
Above these is the graceful statue of Columbus drawing the veil aside that has 
concealed the New World. 

In another glorieta is a statue that is the special admiration of the Indians, — 
the statue of Cuauhtemotzin or Guatimotzin, — the admiration of which is not 
confined to the natives. It is of exquisite workmanship and beautiful in concep- 
tion and execution. The plumed and feathered warrior stands upright, with stead- 
fast look ahead, and in the act of taking an arrow from his quiver. The basso- 
relievos show the scenes of the torture and other incidents in the life of the 
Aztec monarch. 

The monument to Juarez is on the Panteon de San Fernando. The recum- 
bent figure of the Indian president rests beneath a Grecian temple of purest 
white marble. Half supporting the body is the figure of Mexico mourning for 
her dead. The beautiful work is by the Islas Hermanos, who have accomplished 
a perfect result from a graceful and perfect design. 

The statue of Morelos is of white marble and enjoys the distinction of having 
been unveiled by Maximilian on the one hundredth anniversary of the hero's 
birth. There is also a statue of Guerrero in bronze. 



72 



Houses of Note — Near the Hotel Humboldt is a house once owned by the 
Condes de Santiago, one of the oldest families of Mexico, and one of the wealthiest. 
The doors are richly carved, with the family arms as a center piece; there is a 
magnificent patio, and in the rear a small park from which the street Parque del 
Conde derives its name. 

The Palace of Yturbide is now the hotel of that name. It was erected by the 

Marquesa de San Mateo Valparaiso more than a 

hundred years ago. The house was occupied 

b) the Emperor Yturbide during his brief reign. 

Near the Garita de San Cosme is 

the "house of the masks." Don Jose 

dc Mendoza, Conde del Valle de 

Orizaba is responsible 

for the entirely 

unique idea of 

covering the 

walls of his 




OLD FOUNTAIN, CITY OF MEXICO 



73 

house with stone masks. He died before the house was finished however. 

The house of Humboldt is at No. 3 Calle de San Agustin, where the great 
traveler resided during his stay in Mexico. A tablet in the walls records that 
fact and the date of his birth. 

The house of Marshall Bazaine is in the street called Puente de Alvarado. 

The House of Tiles at the corner of the Plazuela de Guardiola was built by 
the Conde del Valle de Orizaba. There is a proverb of the Spaniards that applies 
to the spendthrift, to the effect that " he will never build a house of tiles," and 
it is said that the proverb had been applied to the Conde, and that he built this 
house to refute the imputation. 

Fronting the Plazuela is the magnificent house of the family Escandon. 

Near the center of the Puente de Alvarado there is a space between the 
houses, shut off from the street by a wall and an iron rail that tradition says is 
the spot of Alvarado's leap on the eventful Noche Triste. 

The Streets of the City of Mexico are peculiar in their nomenclature. The 
names were chosen from every conceivable source, from the Divinity to Diaz, 
including the Savior and his apostles, as well as the heroes of Mexico and Spain. 
There is a Calle Espiritu Santo and a Calle Jesus, a Calle Hidalgo and a Calle 
Juarez, and one Calle Nino Perdido, Street of the Lost Child. The names change 
at each corner, or if the name continues more than one square, numbers are pre- 
fixed. Thus the principal street, the Broadway of Mexico, is called San Francisco; 
where it begins at the Alameda it is called Puente de San Francisco; in the next 
block it is 1st San Francisco, and in the next 2d San Francisco, and so with many 
others. This is what is called the old system, but is still in use, although by city 
ordinance the streets are now numbered north and south, as are the avenues that 
cross them at right angles. Difficult as the old one was, it will be a long time 
before the new system comes into general use, and no explicit directions can be 
given. A map may be of some use, but a hackman is the surer method of finding 
any particular street. Still one is not liable to lose the way ; the streets run at 
right angles, and one soon becomes familiar with the landmarks. Many of the 
objects of interest are within a few minutes' walk of the principal hotels. For the 
distant places the street cars are preferable to carriages. 

Panteones — The cemeteries of Mexico are always interesting. That of Sari 
Fernando is the finest in the country. Here lie the remains of Juarez, Guerrero, 
Miramon, Zarnagoza, Comonfort and other prominent men of Mexico. 

The Cemetery of Dolores, beyond Chapultepec, is a beautiful place indeed. 

The French, English and American colonies have their cemeteries. In the 
latter are buried nearly five hundred American soldiers of the war of '47. 

In the cemetery on the hill of Guadalupe General Santa Ana lies buried. 
Other cemeteries are San Pablo Piedad, Campo Florido, Salinas and Los Angeles. 

Funeral cars of all classes are operated on the street-car lines leading to the 
panteones and cemeteries. 

Newspapers. — The Two Republics, printed in English, is issued every morn- 
ing. The Anglo-American is a weekly. The Mexican Financier, a weekly 
devoted to financial and commercial interests, is printed in both English and 
Spanish, parallel columns. All the American dailies of the larger cities are on 
sale at the various news stands, and also the latest weeklies and magazines. 

The Sonora News Company has agents on all first-class trains of the trunk 
lines in Mexico, with the latest periodicals and literature of the day. 

Among the daily papers printed in the Spanish language are El Universal, 
El Tiempo, El Nacional, El Partido Liberal, El Diario Official and others, giving 
foreign and domestic news; these and the English papers mentioned are pub- 
lished in the City of Mexico. The other larger cities of the Republic all have 
their newspaper publications. 



74 




75 




Around the Capital, 




Chapultepec — Popular tradition has it that on the Hill of the 
Grasshopper was the summer palace of the Montezumas. A cause- 
way led from the city of Tenochtitlan across the marshes and the 
lake and aqueduct was built upon it. After the Conquest the 
Spanish Viceroys built a palace on the hill. It remains to this day. 
It was the palace of Maximilian, and is the summer home of the 
President of Mexico. The present palace was commenced in 1783 
by the Viceroy Don Matias de Galvez and completed by his son, 
Don Bernardo, in 1785. It has been undergoing completion ever 
since by the various kings, emperors and presidents, each one 
iadding to its size and cost. 
. / The interior decorations are beautiful and unique to a degree, 
L / with Pompeiian color and decoration in the tiled galleries. A 
^ j smoking-room has hangings of embossed leather. A desk and 
•*tfj dresser in another is inlaid pearl and onyx. A fine stairway has 
a ceiling decorated with coats of arms from 1474 to 1887. A drawing- 
room has the walls hung in the most delicately tinted satin, has 
tapestries and the richest ebony furniture. Bedrooms with the 
daintiest boudoirs are furnished in regal elegance. In an ante-room 
are two oaken chairs that belonged to Cortez. The palace is on 
the very crest of the hill, approached by only one winding road. 
This Hill of the Grasshopper rises out of a forest of giant 
'="- ahuehuetls ; its rocky sides are carved here and there with 
figures and heiroglyphics that are declared to be dates and 
' names of Aztec history. On one side a cave is shown that is the 
opening to an underground passage that ends immediately under the 
palace, and connects with a well or shaft that opens in the garden 
at the top; this was a means of secret passage in the olden times. The cave is 
seen from the drive on the ascent, and the well is shown in the garden of the 
palace. On the ea^ern side of the hill is shown the tree of Montezuma, where 



A MODERN TOLTEC, 



76 

that unhappy monarch also experienced a noche triste, where he wept as Cortez 
wept, and for defeat. The views from the wide galleries of the palace are 
grandly magnificent. On one side are the volcanoes, on another the fields of 
Churubusco and Molino del Rey. From the front is the grand view of the city, 
lakes and the plain, with towns and villages everywhere, and the mountains on 
the other side. In the foreground are the great cypresses of the park, the rocks 
and steep hillsides, and the old aqueduct of the city's water supply. 

The grand old trees rise in sombre majesty like a race of giants among pig- 
mies, and the dim aisles beneath their lower branches are made still more beauti- 
ful by the almost intangible softness of draperies of gray moss festooned and 
swaying from limb to limb. Through this wood, shadowy as twilight even at 
midday, the carriage road winds and mounts to the summit. Standing on the 
terrace, whence rises the grand old castle, one looks across the Valley of Mexico. 
Surely, of all beautiful views in this beautiful country, the most wondrous is this! 

With the remembrance of scenes in other lands which have been inspiration 
and delight, with the memory of the Yosemite in its blended aspect of mystery 
and majesty still foremost in thought, this lovely landscape loses nothing. 
Even the glamour which ever surrounds the past fades before the reality. From 
this beautiful spot one looks across a valley fair as a dream of paradise, with soft 
green fields and waving hedges and avenues of lofty trees outlining gray country 
roads that fade into the azure distance. A faint line of pale blue mountains, pur- 
ple sometimes with deep shadow, rest like brooding and watchful spirits around 
the dim horizon; and farthest of all, beautiful with that sublime sense of remote- 
ness and awfulness which belongs only to them, the solemn presence of Popo- 
catepetl and Ixtaccihuatl rises like radiant clouds against the serene heavens 
above. Everything before known of mountain scenery becomes secondary in the 
imagination compared with these wonderful heights! The great serenity of the 
Plain, the softly changing greens which cover its eatire extent, and the undulating', 
exquisite line of hills, like the frame of some richi jewel, is something unspeak- 
able when contrasted with the grand solitary state of these twin monard-hs who 
dominate them all. If no more of loveliness than this view can give were added 
to one's inner life, the journey to Mexico would he fully requited. 

The park and hill were the scene of a conflict between the Americans and 
Mexicans on the morning of September 13, 1847. The palace was bravely 
defended by the Cadets of the National Military Academy, which is a part of the 
palace. Many of the brave boys fell under the merciless fire of the enemy. A 
handsome monument in the park, at the foot of the hill, was erected to their 
memory. The horse cars for Tacubaya pass near the park gate. It is best to 
visit Chapultepec by carriage and go early in the afternoon, returning to the Paseo 
in time for the drive when all the fashionables are there, from four to seven 
o'clock. To be admitted to the castle of Chapultepec it is necessary to have a 
permit from the Governor of the National Palace. 

IMolino del Rey, the field of the battle between the Americans and the Mex- 
icans on the 8th of September, 1847, is reached by a branch horse-car line, con- 
necting with the Tacubaya cars just beyond Chapultepec. The battle has been 
declared by General Grant to be one of the unnecessary fights of this unholy 
and unjust war. 

Tacubaya is not inaptly termed the Monte Carlo of Mexico. The "wheel of 
fortune," or misfortune, rolls under the white umbrellas in every street, where the 
poor men, women and children play t'neir earnings away. In the gardens the 
higher classes play at the same game with higher stakes. From this society 
the stranger is not ostracized; he is always taken in. 

After the great inundation of 162Q-34, it was proposed to remove the city to the 
more advantageous higher ground of Tacubaya, but for many reasons it was aban- 



77 



doned. The Alameda and the Plaza of Cartagena are very pretty little parks. 
In the western part of the town are the quaint old mills of Santo Domingo, and 
near by the arbol beiiito, " the blessed tree," which, a legend says, was blessed by 
a priest who had rested in the shade, and bade it be ever green, whereupon a 
spring gushed forth from its roots. The tree and spring are both in evidence. 
The very beautiful gardens of Tacubaya are private property, but may be visited 
on permission. 

Horse cars run from the Plaza Mayor to Tacubaya, passing the gate of the park 
of Chapultepec. Another line of horse cars starts from the Plaza, and just out of 
ths city are attached to a steam train. 

Mixcoac, a mile south of Tacubaya, is the place of the beautiful gardens of 
La Castaneda, a place of public resort and very much in favor on Sundays and 
feast days. The old adobe walls enclose some beautiful gardens, where flowers 
are grown for the market in the city. Mixcoac is reached by horse cars from 
Tacubaya or via the Tlalpam steam line, changing to the cross country horse 
cars at San Mateo. 

San Angel is another of the little garden cities of the valley on the cross- 
country line between Tacubaya and San Mateo. San Angel derives its name 
from the old Church of San Angelo Martir, built in 1615-17, and dedicated to 
that saint. There is a deserted monastery and church, with beautiful domes of 
tiles, once occupied by the Carmelites, who dedicated it to Nuestra Senora del 
Carmen, in which there is much to interest the lover of the antique. San Angel 
is beautifully located on the sloping hills, overlooking the valley and surroundmg 
villages, a very healthful place, and much resorted to in the summer months. 

Coyoacan was the home of Cortez and the seat of his government after the 
Conquest, and from here he directed the building of the City of Mexico; hence, 

Coyoacan is the older town. The house of Cortez 
is now occupied as the city hall. Over the doorway 
is his coat of arms. Near by is another house of 
'•'. ^ r. Cortez, in the garden of which he drowned 
his wife. The Church of San 
Juan Bautista was founded 
in 1530; the date of its com- 
pletion, 1583, is graven 
on the facade. In 
the church yard is a 
stone cross, placed 
there by Cortez. 
Coyoacan is reached 
by horse cars from 
Tacubaya, or by the 
Tlalpam steam road 
to San Mateo, where 
change is made to 
the cross - country 
line. 

Churubusco is 
near the station of 
San Mateo, on the 
ON THE BARRANCA ROAD. Tlalpam Railway, 

about a half mile distant. It is only a straggling village, but in ancient times was 
an important city, Huitzilopochco, in which was a temple to the god Huitzilopochtli, 
from which the name of Churubusco is said to be derived, but by what process of 
derivation the chronicler sayeth not. The place had a bad name as the abode of 





78 




79 

demons and evil spirits that made night hideous with their howhng and diabolical 
noises, but these were vanquished by the establishment of the Christian church. 
The Church of Santa Maria de los Angeles was completed in 1678 and dedicated 
May 2d of that year. The church is beautifully decorated with tiles. There are 
some wonderful carvings in wood on the old organ and the busts of the saints. 
In the patio of the monastery is a spring of clear water bubbling up through a 
stone basin. 

In the little plaza is a monument in memory of the battle with the Americans, 
August 20, 1847, under Generals Smith, Worth and Twiggs. General Pedro Maria 
Anaya was the brave commander of the Mexicans. After the battle he was asked 
by General Twiggs where he could find the ammunition. The gallant Mexican 
replied: "Had I any ammunition you would not be here." 

TIalpam is a beautiful little city at the southern border of the Valley of Mexico, 
reached by the steam trains of the Valley Railroad; the cars are drawn by 
mules from the Plaza in front of the Cathedral to the outskirts of the city and 
there made up into a train with a locomotive. It is a quaint old town of gardens 
and orchards, and relics of the bygone times. In former times a great gambling 
fete was held here at Whitsuntide, but on account of its excesses the fete was 
finally suppressed. In the southern part .of the town are the ruined walls of an 
oratorio, richly carved, against which a thrifty native has built a lowly home, the 
adobe walls and thatched roof in strange contrast with the departed magnificence 
of the oratorio decorations. One of the most delightful and interesting day's 
outings that can be made from the capital is a trip to the towns of the south of 
the valley. It will take a day to do it and the start should be early. Take the 
Tacubaya line of horse cars, change at Tacubaya to the cross-country line, stop 
over one car at Mixcoac to visit the Tivoli de la Castaneda. Stop an hour at San 
Angel, two at Coyoacan, two at Churubusco and another two at TIalpam, returning 
to the city via the Valley Railroad. There are no restaurants, but in all the towns 
the tiendas keep canned goods, bread and eggs, and the trip may be made a picnic. 

Noche Triste — The famous tree is in the suburb of Popotla. Beneath the 
tree Cortez sat down and wept on the night of his terrible defeat, July i, 1520. The 
tree is of the kind of those in the park of Chapultepec, called ahuehuetl. Some 
years ago, some fanatic built a fire about its trunk and seriously burned it. Since 
that time an iron rail has been placed around it. Relic hunters are warned off 
by the arrest, some years ago, of a party of American vandals, who were very 
properly fined for their nefarious practices, in this case of breaking off twigs 
from the tree. 

Tacuba is the place of the residence of the Archbishop of Mexico. In olden 
times it was a city and capital of the primitive monarchs Totoquiyauhtzin I, 
Chimalpopoca, Totoquiyauhtzin II and Tetlepauquetzaltzin, who was hanged by 
Cortez in 1525. Near the Archbishop's residence is a very handsome church, 
enclosed within a wall of inverted arches, where solemn services are held during' 
holy week. 

Atzcapotzalco was the capital of the cruel king Maxtla, a monarch of the 
Aztecs until the rightful heir, Netzahualcoyotl, overcame the usurper and regained 
the throne. The almost unpronounceable name means "the ant hill," on account 
of the very numerous population. The church and monastery were erected by 
the Dominicans in 1565. The present church was completed in 1702. On the 
tower IS a huge ant, graven in the stone. The church is a large one, with a high 
tower and two fine domes. Back of the town is the village of Zancdpinca, where 
there is a little lake and a ruined aqueduct. The lake has a legend that in its 
waters, in a palace of crystal, a bad fairy lives, called the Malintzi. She lures 
passersby to the waters by the music of her singing; whoever hears her voice and 
stops to listen, and does not run away, disappears forever. If he lingers, a languor 



80 

creeps over him, fills him with ecstacy, and he is irresistibly drawn into the 
depths by the Malintzi's beauty also, and disappears forever. The Indians say 
that this lake is the hiding place of the treasure of Guatimotzin, that even the 
cruel torture he suffered at the hands of Cortez did not make him reveal. Another 
legend relates of a spring that was under the roots of five great ahuehuetls, near 
the monastery, a spring whose water never flowed from it, and to drink of it meant 
to disappear forever. The holy fathers counteracted the evil effects of the spring 
by preaching against it, with the additional and perhaps more effective covering 
it up with stones which the multitude cast into it, and then placed over it an altar 
to the Virgm; but he who will listen with his ear to the ground may still hear the 
murmuring of the waters and the singing of the bad fairy beneath the ground. 

The cars for Atzcapatzalco start from the Plaza Mayor. It is not necessary to 
ask for the car; the name is painted on the side. 

La Piedad is just beyond the Garita de Belen. It consists of a church and 
an abandoned monastery, founded in 1652, and contains a much venerated picture 
of the Virgin with the dead Christ. The tradition is that the picture was com- 
menced in Rome, but when the monk, who was to take the picture to Mexico, was 



ready to start, only the outline of the figures was drawn. It was concluded to 
take it anyhow. On the way over a violent storm came up, and the mariners 
vowed to' the Virgin, if she would bring them safe to land, they would build a 
temple to her in Mexico in which the picture should be enshrined. The prayer 
was heard and the vow fulfilled — and behold, when the picture was opened, it 
was found to be finished in the most beautiful colors. It was placed above the 
main altar, dedicated February 2, 1652, and is there to this day. Horse cars 
start from the Plaza Mayor. 

La Viga Canal — The floating gardens, chinampas, on the Viga Canal, are 
reached by horse cars from the Plaza Mayor, near the Cathedral, to Embarcadero, 
and thence by canoe for a few hours or for a day. The boats are a sort of Mexi- 
can edition of a Venetian gondola, broad andflat-bottomed, with seats underneath 
a canopy of bright colors. The boats are propelled by a pole in the hands of a 
dusky gondolier. The excursion is altogether a novel one, particularly on Sun- 
days and feast days, and should not be overlooked. Unless you are thoroughly 
Mexican it is best to make a picnic of it and take your provender along, but there 



81 

will come alongside a longer and narrower canoe hewn from the trunk of a single 
tree. In one end of this quaint craft stands a swarthy Mexican with a single oar 
of long handle, in the other a comely woman and often a pretty girl, who will 
offer, for a tlaco or a ciiartilla, the native sandwich, a tortilla con came or a tor- 
tilla con dtilce. I offer no advice as to this purchase, but the tortillas of La 
Viga, as I found them, were clean and toothsome. 

This excursion is the most novel of all. The boatmen meet the horse cars at 
the terminus and bid against each other for patronage. There is no regular tariff, 
twenty-five cents, dos reales, each passenger being sufficient to Santa Anita and 
return. The longer excursions to the lakes and towns beyond, of course, cost 
more. Santa Anita is a sort of native Coney Island and is a great resort, but the 
charm is in the ride thither, passing the low-arched bridges, and the market 
boats laden with fruits and flowers, which must stop at the lla Viga gate and 
pay a duty to the city, levied on all imports from the country. There are great, 
long flat-bottomed passenger packets, also propelled by poles, going to and from 
the towns across on the other shores of Xochimilco and Chalco, crowded with 
men, women and children and dogs starting or returning from a voyage of 
a day and a night. 

Any day will do for the La Viga voyage, but Sunday, or, better still, on a 
feast day, there will be flowers afloat and ashore, and music, music everywhere, 
of all sorts, from the tinkle of a guitar to blare of a brass band; gayly dressed 
men and more gayly dressed women, singing and dancing on the boats or under 
the trees of the Paseo de La Viga which runs along the canal. 

The floating gardens really were entitled to the name when Cortez came, and 
the clmiampas were described among the other features of exceeding beauty that 
met the astonished eyes of the Spaniards, but now are only bits of land with little 
canals, instead of walks, through the beds and plots. These canals are too nar- 
row for the boats from the city. To see the chijtampas, the gardens that float, 
walk through the streets of the village a few yards and take a small boat for a 
voyage through acres and acres of flowers. 

On the banks of La Viga once lived El Senor Don Juan Corona, of most happy 
memory, revered for deeds of daring, and loved for his charity. He was not a 
soldier or a Sunday school superintendent. In life Don Juan Was a bull-fighter, 
and much renowned in his day, but his career is not to be written here. 

Ask your gondolier to stop at the hacienda of Don Juan Corona. Enter 
beneath an hospitable roof and find a house intensely Mexican, shaded by trees 
and almost hidden by climbing vines and flowers. Every room is a museum in 
itself, filled with relics of every age and time of Mexico's history; curious objects 
collected from all over the country, in dozens and scores. There is a cigar case 
once owned by the patriot priest, Hidalgo, also a pistol and sword carried by him; 
some pieces from the table service of the Emperor Maximilian; several idols 
found in the pyramids of San Juan Teotihuacan; weapons, feathers and war- 
dresses used by the Aztecs; one of the guns with which Maximilian was shot; 
the bed used by General Santa Ana, while President of Mexico; a rifle used hy 
General Miramon in the siege of Oueretaro; a magnificent collection of chicaras, 
chocolate cups, painted by the Indians of the State of Michoacan; very curious 
ancient bull-fighter dresses, among which is the one used by the Spanish matador, 
Bernardo Gavifio, when he was killed in the ring at Texcoco. 

The collection of this bric-a-brac was Don Juan's hobby; but another and 
more philanthropic pleasure of his was the care of the children of the poor of La 
Viga, and from his savings he established a school for them. He was called the 
father of the destitute. The school will be shown in one of the rooms of the 
hacienda. As a visitor enters, the bright little beneficiaries of Corona's bounty 
rise in salutation and welcome. The school has not the amole means it had in 



82 

the life of the good Don Juan, and any offering is not only acceptable but is a 
tribute to the memory of a good man. 

The Paseo, or, to be explicit, the Paseo de la Reforma, is the drive of the 
city. Carriages are necessary to the proper seeing of the Paseo and to save a 
walk up the steep hill at Chapultepec. It is about two and one-half miles long, 
reaches from the City to Chapultepec, and is a magnificent boulevard, where the 
bo7t ton are pleased to drive every afternoon from four o'clock till dark, 
when the magnificent procession of fine equipages files down San Francisco 
Street and disperses. The carriageway is broad and shaded by great trees, 
two rows on each side, between which is a wide promenade. At regular 
intervals the Paseo widens into a glorieta, a circle 400 feet in diameter, 
where there are stone benches. In three of these circles are to be placed 
statues of the nation's heroes; that of Charles IV., said to be the largest 
bronze in the world, is at the entrance, and Columbus and Guatimotzin 
further along; Juarez and others are to be placed in the o\\v&x glorietas. On 
each side of the drive, near the curbs, are smaller statues of Mexican 
heroes, presented by the various states. At the further end of the Paseo 
rises the hill and castle of Chapultepec, surrounded by a forest of cypress 
which is not surpassed for magnificence on this continent. 

The Desierto, some sixteen miles southwest of the city, reached 
only on horses or burros, was, in olden times, an abode of a company of 
^ Carmelite monks, which the ancient chronicler called a stately cloister 
set upon a hill, among rocks in which the monks fashioned out holes 
.and caves, where they lived and prayed, and where they kept their 
implements of self-torture — rods of iron, hair-cloth girdles with 
sharp wire points, which they wore on their bare flesh, and such 
other pleasant articles of diversion. But with all the name of el 
Desierto, it is by no means a desert. There were gardens and 
'orchards, and rare flowers, and among the rocks sprmgs of clear 
flowing water. It is a beautiful spot, indeed, and the ruins, the caves and holes 
in the rocks intensely interesting. 

San Juan Teotihuacan is the place of the Pyramids of the Sun and Moon, 
and the ruins of a prehistoric city. The Pyramid of the Sun is 216 feet, 8 inches 
high, with a base of 761 by 721 feet, 7 inches. At the top it is 59 feet, north and 
south, and 105 feet, east and west. The "Moon" is 150 feet, 11 inches high, with a 
base of 511 by 426 feet, 5 inches. At the top it is 19 feet, 8 inches square. An 
entrance to this pyramid, discovered some years ago, leads to a chamber whose 
walls are of cut stone, in direct lines of the compass. The other pyramid has no 
entrance as yet discovered. 

South of the Pyramid of the Sun is the ciudadela, the citadel, 262 feet wide by 
32 high. In the center of the enclosed square is a small pyramid, and on the 
outer works fourteen smaller pyramids placed at regular intervals. Between the 
"Sun" and "Moon" is a causeway called the Calle de los Mnertos (the street of the 
dead). These works are supposed to be the work of a race older than the Toltecs 
or the Acolhuans. The pyramids are reached in an hour's ride by the Mexican 
Railway from Buena Vista station. They may be seen from the cars, looking 
from the windows on the north side. 

Tfanepantla is a town of bull fights, but an interesting, primitive place, at 
the end of a horse-car line that commences at the Plaza Mayor. The old church 
was corrimenced in 1583, and dedicated four years later. 

Tajo de Nochistongo, one of the greatest works ever attempted, was de- 
signed by an engineer, Enrique Martinez, to drain the waters of Lake Zumpango, 
the highest of the lakes of the valley, and prevent its overflow to the other lakes 
and the inundation of the city. The work was begun November 28, 1607, and in 



83 



less than a year a tunnel, four miles long, eleven feet wide and thirteen feet high, 
was completed by the work of 15,000 Indians, who were utilized by the sinking of 
a number of shafts. The tunnel walls were of adobe with a stone facing. 

On June 20, 1629, the rainy season being unusually copious, the uncompleted 
tunnel was ordered closed for fear of the result of too great a volume of water 
that might destroy the work. In a single night the waters rose and covered the 
city to a depth of three feet. The great flood lasted from 1629 to 1634. It was at 
this time that a royal order was given, changing the location of the city to the 
higher ground of Tacubaya, but a very dry season coming on, the order was not 
carried out. Martinez was imprisoned as the cause of the calamity, but finally 
released and ordered to execute the work he had commenced. The tunnel was 
reopened, but it was constantly caving in, and It was finally concluded to open the 
tunnel into a canal, which was done. The width is from 300 to 600 feet, depth 
150 to 200 feet, and the length 67,537 feet. But after all this cost of time, money 
and life, the Tajo failed of its purpose; it is a drainage canal that does not drain. 
The tracks of the main line of the Mexican Central Railway pass through the 
Tajo de Nochistongo, and the great work may be seen from the wmdows 
on the west side. 

Guadalupe — There is a positive similarity between the Aztec and Toltec 
legends and mythology and that of the Christian religion. The Aztecs had a 
Mother of Gods which they called Tonantzin, and which was worshiped at the 
identical spot where the Virgin of Guadalupe appeared to the Indian, Juan Diego. 

This pious Indian lived at the town of Tolpetlac, and on the morning of 
December 9, 1531, as he was on his way to hear mass in the Church of Santiago 
Tlaltelolco, and near the hill of Tepeyacac, he heard the music of singing voices, 
and looking up beheld a lady who spoke to him, and bade him tell the 
Bishop that he should build a church on the spot where she stood; when 
she had disappeared he hastened to the Bishop with the message that he 
had received. The Bishop was Don Juan Zumarraga, who listened to his 
story, but with unbelief. The Indian returned to the hill and found the 
lady there again. She listened to what he said of the Bishop's answer, 
and told him to come again to that spot on the following Sunday, at which 
time she appeared to him for the third time, and repeated her behest that 
a temple should be built in her name. The Indian again repeated his 'i_ ' \ 
story to the Bishop, who was still incredulous, and told him to bring "^ 

some token that might indicate the truth of his story. When the Indian f I 

departed, the Bishop sent two of his servants to follow him, but Juan 
Diego managed to evade the watchers, and when he had come to the 
hill, behold, the lady was there. She told him to come again the next 
day and that he should have the token the Bishop required. On the 
return of Juan Diego to his home he found his uncle very ill with a 
fever, and for some days was busied with his attendance on the sick 
man, who grew worse, and early on the morning of December 12th, 
Juan went to call a confessor. He did not go by the usual path, but '. 
by a nearer one, in the hope that he might not be delayed just at/ 
this time by the appearance of the lady, but as he passed the hillj 
he saw her coming down and she called to him. He told her of; ' 

his uncle's illness, and of his errand. She replied that already- 
his uncle was well. Then she told him to gather some flowers. To gather fiowers 
in such a place seemed impossible, but at her feet he found them growing in the 
barren rocks. Joyfully he gathered them in his tilma. The lady bade him show 
the flowers to no one except the Bishop, as they were to be the sign required, and 
as she vanished, behold, a spring of water gushed from the spot where she stood. 
He hastened away to the Bishop's house, and waited at the door until he 



84 




VISIONS OF JUAN DIEGO, FROM OLD PAINTINGS AT 



GUADALUPE. 



85 

appeared, and when he came, the Indian emptied the flowers at his feet, and 
behold, an image of the Virgin, in beautiful colors, appeared upon the tilma. 
The Bishop took the miraculous tilma and placed it in his oratory. Juan Diego 
returned to his home, and found that his uncle had been cured of his illness in the 
very hour that the Virgin declared that he was well. 

The temple was built upon the spot where the Virgin had first appeared, and 
where the roses had sprung from the barren rock. In this temple, on the 7th 
of February, 1532, was placed the tilma of Juan Diego, and the good Indian and 
his uncle became the servants of the Virgin in attendance there. 

The little chapel at the foot of the hill, and the spring that is there, mark the 
spot of one of the visions of Juan Diego, and for many years the tilma hung above 
the altar. Afterwards it was removed to the larger church near the Plaza, where it 
remains until the completion of the great Church of Guadalupe, on which already 
nearly $2,000,000 has been spent. This is to be the final resting place of 
the image of the tilma. 

The wonderful part of the story is, that the tilma retains the colors, bright 
and fresh, while other pictures near it are faded and worn. Eminent artists and 
authors have examined the tilma and decided that the picture is not painted; 
that they have no knowledge of how the colors are put on. The tilma is the 
cloak of the Indians, made of a coarse textile fabric taken from the fibre of the 
cactus. The image of the Virgin of Guadalupe differs from the other images of 
the Virgin, in that it has a halo around the entire figure instead of around 
the head alone. 

December 12th is the great feast of Guadalupe, and from all parts of the coun- 
try the Indians come to the fiesta. It is the day on which Juan Diego carried the 
flowers in his tilma and placed them at the Bishop's feet. When Hidalgo pro- 
nounced the Grito of Independence, he took the banner, with the image of the 
Virgin of Guadalupe, from the little Church of Atotonilco, near San Miguel de 
Allende, and it became the banner of Independence. It fired the Indian heart 
and Guadalupe became the war-cry that led them on to victory. 

When you go to Guadalupe, whether on the day of fiesta, or at a more pro- 
pitious time to see all the wonders there, walk through the little park to the 
southeast corner, then through a little street to the Capilla del Pocito (the chapel 
of the well), where there is a flowing spring of clear fresh water that gushes forth 
from the rocks where the Virgin stood. 

To the left stone stairs lead to the chapel at the top of the hill. About 
half way up are the stone sails of Guadalupe. The legend goes, that a ship's 
crew were sore distressed in a great storm, and vowed to the Virgin that if she 
would bring them safe to shore they would carry their ship's foremast with its 
sails and set them up on the hill of Guadalupe. The sails are there, encased in 
stone, as an evidence of the protecting power of the Virgin. 

On the top of the hill is the Capilla del Cerrito. This chapel of the little hill 
marks the spot where Juan Diego gathered the flowers that sprung from the hard 
stone where the Virgin stood, and carried them as a token of his story to the Bishop. 

Down on the other side of the hill is a curious little grotto built in the side of 
the rocks, ornamented with mosaics of broken china, glass, shells and bits of bric- 
a-brac, the work of the Indians. 

Guadalupe was made a city by an Act of Congress, February 12, 1828. It has 
a population of about 5,000 people. Here was signed the Treaty of Peace 
between the United States and Mexico, February 2, 1848, called the Treaty of 
Guadalupe-Hidalgo. 

The Church of Nuestra Senora de Guadalupe is at the foot of the hill, on the 
spot of the fourth apparition of the Virgin to Juan Diego. Adjoining the church, 
on the east, is the old Convent of Santa Coleta, closed by the Laws of the 



86 



Reform and the nuns banished. In the patio are the cells of the rooms, each 
about six feet square, with a stone bench for a bed. 

Street cars run from the Plaza Mayor, in front of the Cathedral, along the line 
of the ancient causeway. On the left are seen the shrines erected by the Span- 
iards, and where the processions and pilgrims stopped to pray. 

Los Remedios — Westward of the Plain of Mexico is the hill of Totoltepec 
and on its top the shrine of Our Lady of Succor, called the Church of Los Reme- 
dios, whose legend is quaint and curious. A holy image of the Virgin was brought 
to Mexico by Juan Rodriguez de Villafuerte, a soldier of the Conquest. Durmg 
the first occupation of Tenochtitlan the image had a place and a shrine on the 
great teocali. When the defeat of the Noche Triste came the image was carried 
out of the city by Villafuerte, who, being sorely wounded and unable to carry it 
further, hid it under a maguey on the hill Totoltepec, near the temple of 
Otoncapulco, and left it there. 

Twenty years later an Indian chief, Cequauhtzin, whose Christian name was 
Juan de Aguila Tobar, was hunting on the hill and saw a vision of the Virgin, who 
told him to search under the maguey for her image. He found it, and took it to his 
home, but it returned again to its place under the maguey. He carried it again 
to his house, and set tempting food before it in a dish made of gourd, but with all 
this the image fled and was found again on the hill. For the third time the Indian 
took the image to his house, and this time put it in a strong box, secured with 
locks, on which the chief slept; but still the image disappeared to its place under 
the maguey. Then the Indian went to the holy fathers of San Gabriel, in Tacuba, 

and told them of the strange hap- 
penings. The fathers at once 
perceived a miracle, indicating a 
wish of the Virgin that a temple 
should be built on the hill of 
Totoltepec in her honor, which 
was done. The present church 
was commenced in 1574, com- 
pleted in 1575, and dedicated in 
i62g, for the second time. Adjoin- 
ing the church is a large build- 
ing, erected for the clergy and 
the high dignitaries of 
church and state, on the 
occasion of the fiesta of 
September ist of each 
year, when they came to 
bring the Holy Image 
in state to the city for 
invocation for needed 
aids. The surrounding 
walls were to enclose a 
place for the Indians to 
sleep when they came 
to the fiesta. The jewels 
and ornaments were of 
great value, costing over 
$1,000,000, and her shrine most magnificent. The silver railings and the silver 
maguey have all disappeared. A slab of onyx, with an inscription, marks the 
spot where the image was found. In an inner room the original image is kept. 
It is about ten inches high, and has a tiny Jesus in its arms. It is darkly tarnished 






XICACA, GODDESS OF WATER. 



87 




HOME IN THE RUINS OF THE ORATORIO, TLALPAM. 

with age, but some of the jewels and ornaments remain. The gourd in which the 
Indian offered food is also preserved in the same shrine. 

An abandoned aqueduct extends from the church to the higher hills; it was 
built in 1620. It is doubtful if any water ever flowed through its conduit, though 
an authority and a half legible inscription says that there was water in 1724. 

Nuestra Senora de Los Remedios was the patroness of the City of Mexico, and 
when she was conveyed to the Cathedral in times of need, the highest officials of 
church and state followed humbly in her train and participated in the solemn 
ceremonies. * She divided honors in the times of war with Our Lady of Guadalupe, 
and after the battle of Las Cruces, when Hidalgo seemed about to capture the 
capital, her aid was invoked. She was made Generala of the armies of Spain, 
and while the war cry of the Revolutionists was "Guadalupe," the Royalists 
shouted "Los Remedios." 

After Independence was secured it was intended to banish the image of Los 
Remedios from the country, but the order was not executed, and the fiestas of Sep- 
tember 1st are continued, as they have been for three hundred years. 

A visit to Los Remedios requires a full day, by morning train of the Mexican 
National Railroad to Naucalpan, thence by burros up the hill of Totoltepec, 
returning by the afternoon train. The views of the valley from the church are 
simply magnificent. 



88 




89 




The Cities and Towns of Mexico. 




There were cities in Mexico before the man who discovered 
the country was born, aye, cities with hundreds of thousands within 
their g'ates, a thousand years before the city was built that boasts 
the discover's birth, and towns were there on the plains, and on 
the lake shore, and on a hundred hills, looking down to the valleys 
below, where villages nestled in their shadows. These 
have passed away, and only their ruined temples, here 
and there, have lef^ their pillars and graven 
walls, uncovered by the sands of fleeting 
centuries, in unrefuted evidence of a glorious 
magnificence and pre-historic civilization. 
And there were cities and towns in Mexico when the greatest of these in the 
United States of the North were but straggling villages. Their streets were 
paved with stone, while the grass grew in ours, the shadows of high walls 
shaded the passers by, instead of the trees that made the shady side of our 
thoroughfares, and the first that is written here was a city nearly a hundred years 
before the Mayflower unloaded its cargo on Plymouth Rock. 

These remain till this day, and the traveler of the newer cities of the North 
may come and walk in the same paved pathways, pass under the same darkening 
archways, may bow down at the altars that were reared when the stones of 
the Pilgrims' churches were unquarried, and he may live under a roof that may 
have sheltered a courtly cavalier of old Spain, come here attendant at a vice- 
regal court. The streets of the then, are the streets of the now, and the oldest 
inhabitant knows not, except from history, when his house was built. 

I have not chosen to put one before the other here; I have written of them in 
the order of their curious names, alphabetically as to the letters of their spelling, 
leaving the pronunciation all to you, and to the native who tells you how. 

Acambaro ^^ ^^^ '9^^ o^ September, 1526, Nicolas Montaiies de San 
Ak-fra)?i-baro Luis, an Otomite ally of the Spaniards, who was also Cacique 
of Xilotepec, declared Acambaro a city, and the next day, with all the pomp and 
circumstance of state, he marched his soldiers up and down the plain where the 
streets were to be, and coming to the place where the plaza now is, a mass was 
said in a temporary chapel, on the spot where now stands the parish church, and 
the Church of San Francisco was named that day. After the religious ceremonies, 



90 

the first city election was held, that is, Don Nicolds appointed the officers, and 
Acambaro became a full-fledged city, more than three hundred and sixty years ago. 
It was no mushroom growth in the advancement of the town. The date of its 
birth is recorded, but not so the date of its completion, and if we may judge from its 
narrow streets, the tumble-down houses and neglected plaza, its finishing must 
have been a century or so ago, and the chiefest charm is in its antiqueness. It is 
the same old Tarascan town that NicoMs Montanes intended it should be, and the 




ENTRANCE OLD SPANISH BRIDGE, ACAMBARO. 



coming of the railroad has not disturbed its siesta. The trains come and go, and 
the people ask not whence they come or where they go, neither do they care. 

The Tarascans gave the town its name as meaning " the place of the maguey," 
though little of it grows in the surrounding fertile plains, the lands being tilled in 
more valuable products. Located on the King's highway to the Pacific Coast, 
it was a trading place of note many years ago, and it was then that the great storie 
bridge over the Lerma was built, and later, in 1810, Hidalgo concentrated his 
troops at Acambaro, with the intention of marching to the Capital. When the 
railway builders came they found the place in the way of their lines, and it 



91 

became a place to change cars, that's all. A day at Acambaro may not be, 

by any means, the least delightful. A minute's walk from the handsome stone 
station and the tracks, will take you backward another century, and (if you hear 
not the whistle or the engine bell), to another country strange and quaint. There 
is no way to ride, and there is no need to; you must walk and you will prefer to, 
through Amargura Street, passing the fourteen capillitas chiqiiitas, the stations 
of the cross, to the church of Soledad, at the top of a little hill, coming back 
another way to the plaza, where you may rest under the great trees. 

Near by is the church of San Francisco with its deserted convent, one of the 
oldest in all Mexico and one that has never been closed for repairs, though there 
is a new and unfinished chapel that was commenced in 1850 as a thank offering 
for the escape of the town from cholera, intended to be dedicated by Fray 
Macedonio Romero to Nuestra Senora del Refugios, but it was never finished. 
These and the Church of Guadalupe are all to be seen. 

Near the railway track, about a quarter of a mile from the station, is the 
great stone bridge across the Lerma that was built, long ago, in the old Spanish 
days; the massive arches and columned entry-ways make an antique picture 
that is in consonance with the sleepy old town. The water supply is conducted 
from the hills in an aqueduct, built by a Franciscan brother, Antonio Bermul, in 
1527. In all the years of its existence Acambaro has attained but 10,000 inhabi- 
tants, and there is nothing modern in the place except the railway station, which 
is also the hotel where travelers may find rooms and meals in a more modern style 
than at the one on the plaza. Located in the State of Guanajuato, Acambaro is 
on the main line of the Mexican National Railroad, 178 miles from the City of 
Mexico, and at the junction of the western division of that road running to Mo- 
relia and Patzcuaro. The altitude is 6,084 feet above sea level. 

AgUaS CalienteS '^^^ name of this city may not be difficult of remem- 
^;i-was Cai-i-e)i-tees brance. It may have impressed itself upon your 

mind, if you were a traveler in Mexico in the early days of railroads there, when 
some friend, better posted on the language, had coached you how to ask for 
something you did not get — for the hot water that never came. Aguas Calientes 
is a veritable city of hot water, and the citizens are in it the most of the time, as 
may be seen, even from the windows of the passing train. 

The hot springs, that have made the city famous, are about a mile from the 
station, on the east side, and at the springs the first baths were established, 
curiously named after John the Baptist and the Apostles, with their names 
written over the doors, with the figures indicating the temperature of each par- 
ticular Apostle. The ditch, which is the waste-way from the springs, runs alongside 
the avenue, shaded by immense trees, crossing the track at the station; here 
are the scenes that have been talked of, and written of, where the people come 
for their baths, and for their laundry, at one and the same time. At first thought, 
the idea does not seem effulgent with dazzling features — but the one of economy, 
both as to time and clothes, and the attendant laundry expenses, should not be 
overlooked. One need have but one suit, that can be washed and dried while 
you wait, the intervening time occupied by your own bath, with the added ex- 
perience of every man his own washerwoman being fully realized. 

The scene along this hot-water canal, and at the pools, is an interesting one — 
not always on the bills, as the theatre people say. Looking up from the station 
platform there is a long line of busy beings striving at 
a compliance with nature's first law. They are in all 
stages of beginning, continuing or completing the 
ablution or the laundry, with, as a writer says, no other 
protection than the blue sky of heaven and the Repub- 
lic of Mexico; babies tied to a string paddle in the 




92 

warm waters, while their mothers tend strictly to the business in hand. The 
picture is brightened by the many-colored garments hung out to dry on the 
bushes that hereabouts do duty as clothes lines. A wide avenue with great over- 
hanging trees affords a shady drive, or horse-car ride, from the main plaza and 
the railway station to the baths at the head waters, or for a fine walk if you 
are equal to one of a mile. There are other baths in the city, near the station 
and near the plaza. These, with the delightful climate of Aguas Calientes, render 
the stop an attractive one. 

Like the old-fashioned towns of l^ennessee, these in Mexico have a public 
square, here called the plaza. The one at Aguas Calientes is most beautiful with 
its trees and flowers, winding walks, the towering monument over all; in the 
centre is the band-stand, where sweet music entertains the people in the evenings, 
and, on the four sides, fine buildings make this plaza a very attractive one. The 
monument seems unfinished, but it is, or was. Originally it was surmounted by 
a statue of Ferdinand VH., erected to commemorate the founding of the city, 
October 22, 1575. The Mexicans were wont to throw things down in times of 
war, even if they set them up again when the war was over. The statue was 




*i4 . '^, 



iStiSiiiiS^' 





AT AGUAS CALIENTES. 



thrown down, but never replaced, and the monument is utilized to perpetuate 
other data in the city's history. There are a dozen other plazas, including the 
very beautiful Jardin de San Marcos and the Tivoli de Hidalgo, reached by the 
horse cars in a very short ride. Near the main plaza are the markets, always 
interesting in Mexico, and here especially so. 

At any season the visit to Aguas Calientes may be made, but during /a fiesta 
de San Alarcos is the best time to see the city in all its glory. The feast com- 
mences April 23, and extends till May 10, when St. Mark takes possession of the 
town, and all business is given over to merriment and turkeys, this season being 
as disastrous to the latter as a November Thursday in "los Estados Unidos." 

The public buildings are very fine, indeed. The Palacio de Gobierno, State 
House and Casa Municipal are on the main plaza, and adjoining it the Teatro 
Morelos. The Parian market is one square north of the plaza. On the Jardin de 
San Marcos is the Salon de Exposition and Scientific Institute. The parish church 
has some very fine pictures, painted by Andreas Lopez, in 1797, depicting the life 
of San Juan Nepomuceno. In the other churches are some really fine pictures, 
notably, an Adoration of the Magi, by Jose de Alzibar, in 1775, and another canvas 
of his is in the Church of San Juan de Dios. Perhaps the best paintings of the 



93 



Stations of the Cross, in Mexico, are at the Church of the Encino, also by Andreas 
Lopez. In the Church of San Francisco are some good pictures, one representing 
scenes from the life of St. Francis, by Juan Correa, painted in 1681, another is 
the Vision of St. Anthony of Padua. Under the church are the bones and bodies 
of mummied monks. Aguas Calientes is an important city of 36,000 people, 
located on the main line of the Mexican Central Railway, 364 miles from the City 
of Mexico, at the junction of the Tampico Division, where the railway company 
has extensive shops and an employes' hospital. The altitude is 6,261 feet. 

Amecameca ^^^ "^^y S° *^^^ from the City of Mexico to the foot of the 
Ah-ma.v-ca-may-ca great volcanocs before breakfast, but not as the newly 
arrived tourist at Denver did, when he thought, from the marvelously clear atmos- 
phere, that he would walk out to Pike's Peak. You may take an early train from 
San Lazaro station in the city, and arrive at Amecameca in less than two hours. 

Amecameca lies on the plain just at the foot of Popocatepetl and Ixtaccihuatl, 
and for the near views and the ascent one must go to Ameca — the name has 
recently been shorn of one "meca." The train rounds a curve and comes to a 
stop just at the foot of the sacred mountain. A wooded hill lies on the right of 
the track, and just below the station is a stone-paved causeway, marked at inter- 
vals by the stations of the cross; it 
leads to the shrine on the top of the 
Sacro Monte. This causeway was built 
for the processions that, during the 
fiestas of Holy Week, pass between 
the shrine and the parish church. 
Once upon a time, very many years 
ago, there lived on this mountain a 
good, kind old man. He lived in a 
cave, and he was so gentle and kind 
that the birds came and sang to him, 
and the little animals of the forest 
played about his door, and followed 
close on his footsteps. He was Fray 
Martin de Valencia, one of the "Twelve 
Apostles" of Mexico, sent by Pope 
Adrian VI. as a missionary to the 
Indians, with the title of Vicar of New 
Spain. The Fray was greatly beloved by the people, and when he died and 
was buried at Tlalmanalco, it is said that the Indians secretly removed and 
buried him in the cave where he had lived so happily. The cave is now a part 
of the shrine, in which is kept a very curious image of the Christ of the Holy 
Sepulchre. It is made of some very light material, probably the pith of the 
alder, or some like porous substance, that, although it is life-size, it weighs only 
about two or three pounds. The legend goes, that some men were conveying, on 
the backs of mules, some images intended for another part of the country, and 
that one of the mules strayed from the train, made his way up the side of the 
mountain, stopped in the entrance of the cave, and waited there for the Fray to 
return. This was taken to be as a token that the image was to abide there; 
it was placed in the cave and has remained there till this day — except, that on 
Ash Wednesday of each year it is taken, with great pomp and ceremony, from 
the shrine, and conveyed to the parish church, where it remains till Good Friday, 
and then returned to its abiding place. 

This is the great fiesta of the year at Amecameca. The pilgrims come from 
all parts of the country to see what we call the Passion Play, just previous to the 
return of the image to the shrine. The enaction of the Crucifixion, by Indian 




ROAD UP SACRO MONTE, AMECAMECA. 



94 



actors, is curiously interesting, and when, after nightfall on Good Friday, the 
image starts on its return, a great multitude with torches follow up the stone 
steps of the causeway, some of the more devout crawling on their knees up the 
rough hillside, a scene wondrously weird and altogether indescribable; you look 
upon it with awe, and it is well that this is so, as any indication of contempt or 
amusement might be resented. 

On the crest of the hill of Sacro Monte is the shrine of Guadalupe, where there 
are some fairly good pictures of the saints and of the Virgin of the Castle, by 
Villalobos. In the hard clay of the mountain are seen crude representations of 
the cross, and on the trees and bushes are little pieces of the dress of the pilgrims, 
hairs from their heads, or some other token of their devotion left there for buefta 
fortiina. From the crest of the hill at Guadalupe is the finest view of the vol- 
canoes, the plain and city. The parish church of Nuestra Senora de la Asuncion 
and San Sebastian is on the plaza and near the railway station, founded by the 
Dominicans, in 1547. It is quite an extensive building, with a mutilated figure of 
San Sebastian over the entrance, sajd mutilation resulting from the earthquake of 
1884, which also destroyed the tower of San Juan and furnished material for the 
building of the Casa Municipal, on the Plaza Mayor. 

Adjoining the church is an abandoned chapel, and between them an open 
court filled with old sepulchres, as is the church yard. Over the door of this 
Capilla de la Santa Escuela is a glazed tile, with an inscription to Yturbide, the 
liberator, asking the prayers of the people for the repose of his soul. In the 
eastern part of the town is the little chapel of the Rosario, with some excellently 
carved doors, altars and images of Santa Ana and San Jose. 

To ascend the volcanoes of Popocatepetl you must come to Amecameca. The 
ascent is attended with more fatigue than danger. It takes three days to accom- 
plish it; the first is going from Amecameca to the 7-a7icho of the owners of the 
mountain; the second from the raiicho to the crater and return; and the third by 
+. the return to the plain. Permission must be obtained from the owner 

in the City of Mexico, guides at Amecameca, good warm clothing and 
a plentiful supply for the inner man must be taken along. The ascent 
is slow, as the guides must go ahead with ropes, but the descent takes 
less time; you sit down on a mat of rushes and w-h-s-h-t! you are back 
at the rancho—2X least that's the way the sulphur miners in the crater 
go and return from work. 

You may have the grandest view of the world, and a toboggan 
slide which, if it ends in your favor, you will never forget, and if it 
ends adversely for you, your friends will remember it, and you will 
have the highest and whitest monument on earth for 
them to point to; you would gain a 
monument which might not be ac- 
corded you if you had not made the 
ascent, but really there is more of dis- 
comfort than danger. 

Amecameca is on the Interoceanic 
Railway, twenty-five miles from the 
t City of Mexico, and has a population 

\- ^ of 12,000 people. 

The elevation is 6,261 feet above 
the sea. 

There are no horse cars or carri- 
ages and none are needed; all that is 
.. here to be seen may be reached ou 
-^ foot, with no tiring distances. 




CHAPEL ON THE SACRED MOUNTAIN, AMECAMECA. 



95 

Catorce Nearly every town in Mexico has a name that may be translated 
Kaii,te?--see to mean something, Catorce means, in the Spanish language, 
fourteen. It is a mming town; the mines were discovered by a band of bandits, 
fourteen in number, and for want of a better name it was called the Real de 
Catorce. Silver was discovered here about the year 1780, and the district at once 
took lank among the most important in Mexico. Ore of fabulous richness was 
found, and the records show that for more than thirty years, commencing with 
1790, the value of the output amounted to over three million dollars annually. 
Here are hundreds of mines and miles of shafting and tunneling. The drainage 
tunnel of one mine alone, the San Agustin, extends into the mountain for more 
than a mile and a half, and was excavated at a cost of a million and a half dollars. 
For its entire length a tramway has been constructed which is operated by mule 
power. Catorce should be one of the very interesting places in Mexico to the 
tourist. Here are found the customs of Mexico in their purity, unaffected by the 




CATORCE. 

mfluence of the stranger. Difficult of access, the town can only be reached by 
horseback, or on foot. The ride up the mountains to the town is something, once 
accomplished, always to be remembered, partly from its element of personal 
peril, but more because of the beauty of the landscape encountered at every 
turn. Glancing down as you near your journey's end, you catch the gleam of the 
white walls of the town of Los Catorce outlined against the green of the moun- 
tain side. Thousands of feet below shimmer the waters of a mountain stream. 
The shifting coloring of the mountains, as light and shade chase each other over 
their ragged expanse, the browns and greens of the valley far below, and the 
hills in the hazy distance, are exceedingly beautiful. The Real de Catorce is 
built on the side of a ravine near the top of the range, and has a varying popula- 
tion of from 8,000 to 20,000, as the mines are paying poorly or well. Here are 
found all varieties of silver ore, from carbonate to refractory ore, assaying $15,000 
to the ton. Catorce has a fine church, richly decorated, and a pretty plaza, the 



96 

only level spot in the place. To use a railroad phrase, it is a combination of a 
cut and a fill, so that to tumble into it on one side or out on the other would be 
extremely disastrous. The streets are neatly paved, and run up and down hill, 
many of them at an angle of forty-five degrees. 

The story of the wheels or, rather, the no-wheels, is a true one, literally, with 
the single exception in the conveying (was about to say "carting," but conveying is 
better), a carriage on burros to the city by a rich mine owner, but was abandoned; 
the wheels would roll one way easily enough, but it was difficult to get back to the 
starting point, and the innovation of wheels at Catorce was not accomplished. 

Catorce may be reached by horses or burro-back from the station of the same 
name, on the Mexican National Railroad, 471 miles from the City of Mexico, or 
from Vanegas by a branch road that runs within two miles of the city. 

Celaya ^^ ^^^ more than three hundred years ago that the fame of the 
See-ii-ya beautiful Laja Valley came to the ears of the Spanish king, and 
through his Viceroy, Don Martin Enriquez de Alamanza, a company of sixteen 
married men and their wives, and seventeen young bachelors, was sent north to 
spy out the land and to build a town in the valley. Just why this particular com- 
bination of married men and bachelors was chosen, probably only Don Martin 




AT THE HACIENDA. 



ever knew, and the chronicler sayeth not. By these the city of Celaya was 
founded, October 12th, 1570, under the name of Zelaya^ which, in the Biscayan 
tongue, means "level land," but it was not until nearly a hundred years later, Octo- 
ber 20th, 1655, that Philip IV. decreed it a city, and not till three years later 
that the citizens heard of their metropolitan good fortune. 

Since its founding Celaya has not figured greatly in the country's history. 
Built in a peaceful valley, its ways have been the ways of peace, and, although 
located on the main highways of the country, the city has escaped the rigors, 
and I doubt very much if its people heard much more than the rumors of wars. 
If you come from the north or the south, the east or the west, you may see the 
towers of Celaya from afar off, across the broad plains, as you may see a ship 
coming from sea; as the sails are seen first, the rounded domes come to view 
above the trees, the towers of the Church of Our Lady of Carmen or of San 
Agustin. One of the most beautiful in this land of churches, is the Church of 
Our Lady of Carmen in Celaya. It is in form a Latin cross, 220 feet long and fifty- 
five feet wide, by sixty-nine feet high. Not an old church, as churches go in 
Mexico, this one was commenced in 1803, and completed in 1807. The magnificent 
adornment, the frescoes and the superb paintings were by Eduardo Tresguerras, 



97 

a native of Celaya, and an artist of renown, combining a superior knowledge of 
painting, sculpture and architecture in all his work. One of his famous paintings 
IS of Our Lady of Carmen, in the chapel of the Last Judgment, where are, also, 
some portraits of himself as a young and old man. Another notable picture is the 
Triumph of Mary, by Nicolas Rodriguez Juarez. This picture is much older than 
the others, having been painted in 1695; it was rescued from the fire which des- 
troyed the old Church of Carmen. 

The Church of San Francisco, in the midst of a group of churches and chapels, 
was founded in 1570. Only the fa9ade and dome of the original building remain; 
the other parts were erected in 171 5, and the altars, the exquisite work of Tres- 
guerras, were added in the early part of this century. The parish church and 
Tercer Orden are of the Franciscan group, both built in the early part of the seven- 
teenth century. In the little chapel of Nuestra Senora de los Dolores is the tomb 
of this great artist architect, built, also, by his hand. The Church of San Agus- 
tin, a short distance from the San Franciscan group, was built in 1603-10; the 
tower is by Tresguerras. This wonderful man, whose handiwork is in every 
Celayan church, with such lines of exquisite art, was born in Celaya, May 13, 1765, 
and died there August 3, 1833. He left, in his own work, such monuments as 
might never have been erected to his fragrant memory. 

Celaya, in the midst of a most fertile agricultural district, is also a manu- 
facturing city of carpets and woolens, calicoes, rebosos, soaps and dulces; the 
dulces of Celaya are famous the country over. Dukes are sweet-meats, made 
from fruits and from milk; what bon-bons are to the French and candies are to 
the American sweeth-tooth, the dulces are to the Mexican, and Celaya is where 
they make them to the queen's taste, so to speak. The sale of dulces is not con- 
fined to the dulceria. The populace meet you at the train with boxes of dulces, 
as those of the surrounding country bring strawberries and opals to the passing 
trains, and lie in wait for the unsuspecting traveler — literally lie in wait, for no 
matter what the hour of arrival may be, the venders are there. They lie in their 
beds on the roadside and wait for the trains. They may not be officially notified 
of a change of schedule or of a delayed train, but that doesn't make any differ- 
ence; they know it has to come some time and having nothing else to do, they 
just wait. Naturally disgusted by these waits, the prices when the train stops 
are bullish, but the bears get the best of it before it leaves, and when the con- 
ductor cries "vamanos!" you can buy the entire visible supply for a quarter. 

The theatre, the portales, the baths and the markets are to be visited, and, 
altogether, Celaya is one of the places where the lover of the beautiful will wish 
to linger. The city, in the State of Guanajuato, is located, commercially, to great 
advantage, at the crossing of the Mexican Central and Mexican National Rail- 
ways, 182 miles from the City of Mexico, at an altitude of 5,816 feet above the 
sea, and has a population of 22,000. Horse cars run from both stations to the 
main plaza in the center of city, and they are far more comfortable than the 
hacks that rumble over the stony streets. 

Chihuahua When we come down from the Grand River of the North at 
Che-M-ou'-wa El Paso, and have traveled a lonely night across the chapar- 

ral-covered plains, the appetite of novelty has been whetted by the little bit of 
Mexico, gleaned in the glances from the windows, as the train passed through 
Juarez City, and the first morning in Mexico is waked up to with the delights of 
anticipation that are rarely disappointing in this land of eternal sunshine. And, 
unless you are a very early riser, Chihuahua will present the first picture of a 
panorama that must compare with any, no matter in what lands your travels may 
have been. 

Chihuahua is an old city, as most Mexican cities are; it was founded in 1539, 
by Diego de Ybarra. The ancient name was Taraumara, later San Felipe el Real, 



and then Chihuahua, meaning a " place where things are made," and not, particu- 
larly, a place of small dogs, as popularly supposed in the average tourist idea, 
though the pronunciation of the latter syllables might indicate that, rather than 
the actual meaning of the name. 

The pronouncing of Mexican names seems an insurmountable difficulty at first, 
but the newest traveler soon grows familiar with them, and rolls them off as glibly 
as a native, and in a little while begins to tell how he used to pronounce Chihua- 
hua and Jimenez — just as they are spelled — but now can say Che-wow-wa, in a 
tone of voice that would make a small dog, with a soft, spot in its^head, prick up 
its ears, as at a sound from home. 

The fame of the Chihuahua dogs has gone abroad throughout the land, and 
the native has bulled the market accordingly; the demand largely exceeds the 
supply. The dogs are noted, primarily, for their diminutive size, sharpness of 
nose and length of toe nails; but if they possess any further attribute, the fact 
has not been reported. It has been suggested that the soft place on the head of 
the genuine article has been left for an after injection of brains. I speak thus, 
firstly, of dogs, because it is probable that the first man to greet you, when you 
get off the train at Chihuahua, will have one under his arm. 

The train, as it comes from the north, or the south, comes from behind high, 
intervening hills, so there is no view of the city until it stops at the station. The 
city is on the west side of the track, and, as the train passes 
over the barranca, between the shops and the station, there is 
a good view of the town, with the high towers of the Church of 
San Francisco standing out against the western sky. 

Few Mexican towns are located conveniently near the railway 
stations, and Chihuahua is not an exception; street cars there 
are, and hacks, for all parts of the city. The car line from the 
station passes the Mint, State Capitol, Hidalgo Statue, the plaza. 
Church of San Francisco, the market, the hotels and on through 
the old paseo to the Santuario de Guadalupe; the fare, six cents, 
takes you to nearly all the places of interest. A carriage must be 
taken for the new paseo and alameda, and the fine views from the 
hill in the south part of the city, for which the prices vary accord- 
ing to the style of turnout, from one to two dollars an hour, with 
a twenty-five cent fare for short distance rides, as from the station 
to the plaza. 

Being near the border. Chihuahua is a much Americanized 
town, and there are many fine buildings, of a semi-Mexican- 
American style of architecture, on the principal streets, around 
the plaza and along the new paseo and alameda. The State 
Palace is a handsome new edifice, on the street leading from 
the station; in the rear is a plazuela, with a fine monument and 
statue of Hidalgo on the spot where 
he was executed, July 31, 181 1, and 
his compatriots, Allende, Aldama 
and Jimenez, on June 26, of 
the same year. 

Just opposite the palace, 
in an old building, formerly 
the Hospital Real,is the Mint; 
in one of the rooms of the 
square tower, over the entrance, 
the patriots were confined previous 
to their execution. The manufac- 



MONUMENT OF HIDALGO, CHIHUAHUA. 




99 

ture of money in the mint is not as crude as the old house seems to be; the 
dollars drop from the stamps, sixty every minute, while the wheels turn. The 
silver for the most part comes from the mine of Santa Eulalia, near the city, one 
of the richest in the country, and one of the oldest. A tribute, levied by the 
clergy, in the early days, of twenty-five cents on each pound of silver, produced 
$800,000 for the building of the parish chuch. 

The Church of San Francisco, erroneously called the cathedral, is the parish 
church that cost so much money and time to build. It was commenced in 171 7, 
and not completed till 1789. It is said that an inclined plane of earth was raised 
against the walls during their building, on which the material was carried up, 
and by the time the towers were finished the plane extended beyond the plaza. 
The church faces the plaza and occupies such a position that the towers can be 
seen from all parts of the city. The fa<;ade is elaborately ornamented; there 
are thirteen statues of San Francisco and the twelve apostles, and under the 
arches of the dome are basso-relievos of the fathers of the church. A broken bell 
is shown in one of the towers, as having been pierced by a cannon ball fired by 
the French during the bombardment of the city in 1866. The Church of the 
Compania was founded by the Jesuits, under Don Manuel de Santa Cruz, in 1717. 
Another church is that of San Felipe Neri, also the Santuario de Nuestra Senora de 
Guadalupe, at the extreme west side of the city, just beyond the terminus of the 
horse-car line, at the end of the old paseo, where there is a remarkable image of 
San Ygnacio Loyola. 

Just beyond the sanctuary of Guadalupe, beyond the top of the hill, is the 
old aqueduct of the city's water supply, a continuous line of stone arches, about 
four miles long, built a hundred years ago, but in a fine state of preservation. 
Near here are, also, the principal baths of the city. The old paseo, or alameda, 
is much neglected, but the new one is too modern to be particularly interesting, 
except for the fine views of the city and the surrounding mountains ; El Coronel 
was so called from the execution of a revolutionary colonel at that point. 

Chihuahua was for years the market for all northern Mexico, the trading 
trains traveling between that city and Santa Fe. Col. Doniphan, of the United 
States army, occupied the city in 1847, and afterwards made the famous march 
to the south and joined Gen. Taylor. 

Chihuahua, the capital of the State of Chihuahua, is on the Mexican Central 
Railway, ggg miles from the City of Mexico, and has an elevation of 4,633 feet. 
The population is 20,000. 

Cordoba '^° S° ^° Cordoba means to go to the tropics; indeed, the little 
Cord-ova city is just on the border of the tierra caliente, as the Mexicans 

call the hot country, in the foot-hills of the mountain ranges, with an elevation 
that offers a comparative immunity from the malarial fevers of the lowlands. In 
fact the location of the town was made with the idea of a place of refuge from 
the plains below, when it was founded, April 18, 1618, under an order from the 
then viceroy, Don Diego Fernandez de Cordoba, who knew the fertility of the valley 
of the Rio Seco, and chose the hill of Xitango as the site of the city to be called 
by his name. 

The tropical scenes have become familiar on the ride hither; the train stops at 
a station, under palm trees, and the horse-car ride, uptown, is through coffee groves 
and bananas, with gardens everywhere, with every fruit that ripens under the tropic 
sun, oranges, lemons, guavas, pineapples, chirimoyas and granaditas. After this 
ride through the woods and the gardens, you come to the narrow streets, where 
the low houses, roofed with red tiles, have long projecting eaves that shade the 
narrower sidewalks — picturesque to a degree. The plaza and the market may 
be something like the other towns, but there is the tropic charm that the others 
do not possess. Within a square of the market there is one of the most beautiful 



100 

gardens in the world. It is a tangled mass of fruits and flowers overhanging wind- 
ing walks, with fountains, here and there, and pagodas for resting places. 

The churches are San Antonio, founded in 1686, and San Hipolito, in 1793; the 
latter was also a convent and hospital. On the plaza is shown a house where 
Maximilian stopped over night on his way to the capital, and another where was 





STREET AND CHURCH, CORDOBA, 

signed, by Yturbide and the Viceroy O'Donoju, the treaty acknowledging the 
Independence of Mexico. 

Sunday is a great day in Cordoba, when the country folk come to town from 
Amatlan, and other villages roundabout, not in silk attire, but in the gaudiest 
cotton, in all the colors of the rainbow and in the plumage of the birds of their 
primeval forests; the trimmings are on the whitest of white cotton — beads of coral, 
laces of their own handiwork and ornaments of silver, till they are a sight to see. 

Cordoba, in the State of Vera Cruz, has about 7,000 people, is located on the 
Mexican Railway, ig8 miles from the City of Mexico, at an elevation of 2,713 
feet above the Gulf at Vera Cruz. 

CuaUtla Long before the train arrives at Cuautla, the place where the city 
A-»v)((Ma lies may be pointed out, but for its surrounding, and almost over- 
covering of green trees, it can not he seen, save the white spot of tower gleam- 
ing in the sunshine.. Down where the sugar cane grows, on the southern slope of 
the hills that are beyond the volcanoes, is the very pretty little town, in the midst 
of fertile fields and luxuriant gardens of fruits and flowers, a very picture of 
tropical beauty. In the approach to the town the train backs in on a Y and comes 
to a stop in the quaintest railway station that ever was. To what base uses may 
we comel This railwav station was once a convent and churcli; the tower and 
bells are still there, and it may be that the confessional is the ticket office and the 
altar a desk for wav-bills; the nave is a storage-room for freights, and where was 



lOl 

the convent-yard now resounds with the locomotive's whistle. Just outside this 
church-station is the prettiest plaza imaginable, with playing fountains of clear 
water under the trees that shade the streets and the park, where there is a 
music-stand, seats and promenades for the people, and on the opposite side a 
very good hotel indeed, not good alone for Mexico, but good for a town of 
Cuautla's size anywhere, with a garden of fruits that will justify any description. 

The streets of Cuautla run at right angles, with their low adobe houses, but 
presently they merge into shady lanes, hedged with cactus, behind which are 
thatched huts of reeds and rushes almost hidden by the bananas and the 
orange and lemon trees and trailing vines and bowers. These are Cuautla's chief 
charms, and amply repay the rambles of a day's visit. Everywhere is running 
water, through the streets and roads, m the gardens and parks, along the railroad 
track and through the fields. These native engineers have taken the river from 
its bed, made its waters run where they willed, till the land blossoms as the rose. 

A horseback, or a ride by burros, may be made to the sulphur baths, just east 
of the town, and to the old stone bridge over the Rio Xuchitengo, or to the 
hacienda of Coahuixtla, either of which is well worth the ride — the baths of 
fine medicinal qualities, the antiquity of the massive bridge, or the charming 
novelty of hacienda life in the lowlands. 

Cuautla was a city when Cortez came and fell into his possession. The date 
of the Spanish city is from 1605. After the war for Independence the city 





AT CUAUTLrt. 



received the surname of Morelos, and is now called Cuautla-Morelos, in honor of 
General Morelos, who so heroically defended it against the Royalist forces under 
General Calleja, who laid siege February 19, 1812, and so completely drew his 
lines about the place that it was impossible to get in or out. There was more or 
less fighting for nearly three months, till Morelos was forced to evacuate, which 



102 



he did effectually, but not until he was starved out. It is said that, during the 
siege, food was so scarce that cats were sold for six dollars, and rats and lizards 
for one and two dollars. 

The parish Church of Santiago was founded in 1605, and the Church of San 
Diego furnishes the Interoceanic with the oldest railway station in the world, 
dating from the seventeenth century. There are chapels, shrines and churches 
in the town, of various dates and names, but they are not so numerous in the low- 
lands as they are up m the hill country. 

The sugar industry may be further investigated by a stop at the great Hacien- 
da de Santa Ynez, on the line of the railway, three miles west of Cuautla. The 
manager is an affable and courteous gentleman, and most hospitable withal. 
Cuautla is in the State of Morelos, on the Interoceanic Railway, 85 miles from 
the City of Mexico, at an elevation of 3,556 feet above the level of the sea. The 
population is 12,000. 

Cuernavaca ^'- ^^'^ writing Cuernavaca is not a railroad town, but before 
Kiver-na-vaca this edition IS exhausted the old-time city may have its 

echoes wakened by the roll of the wheels and ring of the bell of the engine. 
However, there is that, at that favorite home of Cortez and of Maximilian, that is 
worth all the going there, either by diligencia, from the terminus of the Mexico, 
Cuernavaca & Pacific Railway until that road is completed to the town, or by 
horses from Yautepec, on the Interoceanic Railway, in 
lour hours. The scenery is wonderfully grand; the 
ascent from the valley of Mexico is with a winding, 
twisting track from the plains to the mountain, and 
the view looking back over the cities of the plain, the 
lakes, the volcanoes and lesser mountains makes a 
picture that is not easily described. The climb con- 
tinues till an altitude of 10,000 feet is attained at La 
Guarda, then a little further on, at La Cruz del Mar- 
ques, the descent commences and continues on to 
Cuernavaca. The grand views of mountain and valley 
scenery are in endless variety and without cessation 
throughout the journey. 
The old Indian name, Ouauhnahuac, has a more impressive meaning, "where 
the eagle stops," than the Spanish word Cuernavaca, "cow-horn." But it has 
the advantage in pronunciation, probably, at least after you once know how to 
call either one of them. The high headland, between the deep barrancas, would 
seem to give origin to the ancient name, anyhow it does give to the town a most 
picturesque and delightful location. The mountain streams have been changed 
in their courses, and through reservoirs, sent through the streets and gardens, till 
the town is one vast garden in itself, the overhanging trees almost hide the houses. 
The Calle Nacional is the principal street, and the Plaza Mayor, of course, 
the plaza of the town. The State Capitol is in a building that was once the palace 
of Cortez, and here, in this place, the conqueror rested before his advance on the 
City of Mexico, and here the great adventurer spent some of the last years of 
his life, and when you have seen it you will not wonder at his choice. 

There were millionaires in those days, who were only poor boys, just as in 
these days and this country, and Cuernavaca points with pride to the house where 
Jose de la Borda lived. The native will tell you of his millions made in mining; 
the amount, from forty to fifty millions, taken from mines at Tlalpujahua, 
Tasco and Zacatecas. You will be shown the garden of fruits and flowers, with 
terraced slopes, cascades and fountains that cost a million, and it may have cost 
more, for it is very beautiful, indeed. And the native will tell you of the big church 
at Tasco, where Don Jose placed another million. 




PALACE OF CORTEZ, CUERNAVACA. 



103 

The Church of San Francisco was also a convent, in the old days, when con- 
vents were permitted in Mexico, and was founded in 1529. It is more a group of 
churches and chapels, with connecting roofs and walls ; the tower contains a clock 
that was once in the cathedral of Segovia, presented to Cortez by Charles V. of 
Spain. Asuncion is the parish church ; the others are San Pedro, Tercer Orden 
and Guadalupe, the latter built by de la Borda; Guadalupe is in the suburbs of 
the city. 

The whole country roundabout is full of interest, and it will take some days 
and horses to do the region as it should be. There are the waterfalls in the Tlal- 
tenango, Amanalco and San Antonio ravines. In the village of San Antonio, 
reached over a good road, are some potteries and a lake of great beauty ; here 
also is another house of Cortez, near it a rock with some pre-historic carvings. 
On a neighboring hill is a lizard in stone, nearly nine feet long, and about three 
miles farther to the south is the hill Quauhtetl — " the stone eagle," an eagle in 
stone that measures three feet from tip to tip. It is eighteen miles to the ruins 
of Xochicalco, which are intensely interesting and in every way worth the ride. 
One of the buildings, that may have been a temple, measures seventy-five feet 
long by sixty-eight feet wide, built of cut stone. Forty-five miles from Cuerna- 
vaca are the wonderful caves of Cacahuamilpa, some of the most famous in 
Mexico. Some of the sugar plantations have old-time buildings, erected two 
centuries or more ago, notably on the Hacienda de Temisco; another hacienda 
is that of Atlacomulco, where all the fruits of the tropics may be seen in the fields 
and gardens. 

Cuernavaca is the capital of the State of Morelos, and is reached by trains of 
the Mexico, Cuernavaca & Pacific R. R., fifty miles from the City of Mexico; 
elevation, 4,960; population, 13,000. 

DuranffO ^^ "^^y ^^ called an Iron City, to follow the simile of the Silver 
Doo-m?iff-o City as applied to some of the others of Mexico, though Durango 
has of silver enough to entitle her to some claim in that direction also; her best 
boast is in the baser metal. Within the corporate limits of the city of Durango 
there is iron enough to supply the world for three hundred years, and yet, before 
the railroad was completed to the city, manufactured with wooden machinery and 
water power, the products of the wonderful iron mountain of Durango sold for 
thirty-five cents a pound, and if the mountain could be sold at that rate it would 
exhaust the treasures of the universe to pay for it ; it is almost solid iron, the ore 
averaging from 75 to 90 per cent, of pure metal. The iron mountain is just north 
of the railway station, and only about half a mile distant. A cavalier in Cortez 
army, Senor Mercado, was induced to come here by the report of a mountain of 
silver, but only found iron. The mountain is called Cerro Mercado in his honor. 

Durango is a city, spread out on a plain, with its streets, for the most part, run- 
ning at right angles, with low, but subtantial buildings on either side, with patios 
filled with flowers and fountains. Here and there are pretty plazas and plazuelas, 
with other fountains, and green trees galore. The Plaza Mayor is a garden, sur- 
rounded on its four sides by fine buildings of two to three floors, the State House 
being one of them, and one of the finest in Mexico ; the others are stores and 
cafes. In the center is the artistic pagoda that compares so favorably with the 
prosaic "band-stand" of the United States. These of Mexico are always archi- 
tecturally artistic, and always pretty, while ours are painfully and politically plain. 
The Mexican has built his with an eye to harmony with the music that is to be 
beneath its bended roof. The American has built his with an eye to the hominy 
that is to be bought with the net results of his contract. The walks are paved, 
and hedged about by flowering shrubs, native in name and to the land they grow 
in, though there are also roses and lilies. In this plaza the people most do con- 
gregate in the evenings, to promenade and to hear the music of the band. And 



104 

here, again, the Mexican scores another against us, the music being furnished 
by the Government, the bands are under pay of the people and they must play 
for the people; there are stated days of the week for music, and at least twice 
of every week in the year the bands play. Here, in our country, we must pay 
for a seat to hear the Marine Band, or go to some dress parade of some regiment 
or battalion before we can hear the music we have paid for, or if the band is 
induced outside the barracks it is for an extra stipend that the players are 
not entitled to. 

Near the northwest corner of Plaza Mayor is a pretty little plazuela, that is in 
the courtyard of a church and ancient convent, a most picturesque little nook 
where only the electric light is younger than a century or two. Two or three 
squares west is the beautiful alameda and the paseo, with their great big trees 
and the picturesque bridge across the little rio. At the end of the paseo, toward 
the north, is the public wash place, where there are scores of lavanderas to be 




A LONE WORbHIPER, CHURCH INTERIOR 



seen washing clothes in a curiously arranged laundry of stone basins, through 
which there is running water. All of the pretty places are not in the city. Near 
it, within two or three leagues, are some of the most delightful jardins in the 
world; these are not public gardens, however, but the property of private citizens, 
and admission is only by permission. 

Two squares east of the main plaza is the very interesting market, and all in 
this district are the stores that in their stocks and seeming activity are a surprise, 
but it is to be remembered that Durango was a great city for three hundred years 
before the railroad came, and was a market of supply for a very large territory 
of interior country. There is little to see of the city residences, except a glimpse 
of the patios through the grated archways in the high surrounding walls, but 
there is sufficient in this to tell of their exceeding beauty of interior, whatever the 
uninviting exterior may be. It is thus of the hotels, also. A look into these 
of Durango is satisfying as to the comforts within; the tables, with snowy covers, 
are either in the shaded patios or beneath the arched and pillared portales. 



105 



Three hundred and fifty years ago, the spot where Durango now is, was a 
ranch, and where now is the corner of Calles Principal and Teresas, was a large 
tree, under which an altar was built, and the first mass was said. Afterwards a little 
church was built at the corner of Calle Constitucion and Calle Mayor; this has 
been rebuilt, but many of the original timbers remain. The ranchero who owned 
the lands gave lots to settlers to increase the defense against the Indians. Later 
a mine was discovered on his lands, his wealth increased fabulously, and a 
precentage of the output was levied for the building of the Cathedral. Afterwards 
he built the house now used as the Governor's Palace, and the adjoining theatre, all 
of stone, and the second theatre built in Mexico. He sent as a present to the 
King of Spain f;2,ooo,ooo, asking per- 
mission to build galleries and portales 
of silver around his home. This was 
refused as a privilege pertaining to 
royalty only. He put up porches of 
wood, but on the occasion of a christen- 
ing in his family he paved the street 
from his house to the church with silver 
bricks. The descendants of this Croesus 
live in Durango to-day, but they do not 
use silver as a pavement. 

The Cathedral was commenced in 
the year 1695, by Bishop Garcia de 
Legaspi, and the first public service 
was held in 1715, at which time was 
completed the thirteen arches and one 
tower. The second tower and the other 
departments annexed to the temple, as 
they exist to-day, were not completed 
until 1844, under the direction of Sefior 
Zubiria. The entire work is of the 
Tuscan order of architecture. In the 
crypt are deposited the remains of 
eleven of the twenty-four bishops of 
Durango. During the latter part of the 
last century a terrible fire destroyed all 
the archives and antiquities, and the 
political revolts of 1854 to i860 finished 
all the books and modern documents. 
The Church of San Francisco is the 
oldest of all the Durango churches, the 
first foundations having been laid, on 
this spot, in 1556; and in that year was 
established the first Spanish settlement, under Fray Diego de la Cadena. This 
first temple was solemnly blessed in 1563, on the reception of the mandates from 
the Viceroy, Don Luis de Velasco, at the hands of Captain Alonso Pacheco. The 
Church of San Agustin was founded m 1626, by the first Bishop of Durango, 
Fray Gonzalo de Hermosillo, a religioso of the order of San Agustin. In this 
church is a very notable image of Jesus, the Nazarene, that was brought from 
Spain in 1673, to which tradition attributes an infinity of miracles. Santa Ana is 
a very modern foundation for Mexico; it was commenced in 1777 and completed 
during the episcopacy of Don Francisco Javier Olivares in 1809. El Colegio was 
erected by the Jesuits in 1684 as a part of the college they directed until 1720, the 
year in which was founded a seminary in the same building. This church opened 




AN ODD CORNER IN DURANGO. 



106 

to the public in 1776, when the Parroquia was transferred here from the cathedral. 
El Santuario de Guadalupe was built in 1714 by the 12th Bishop of Durango, Don 
Pedro Tapiz; the interior was renewed in 1885. Analco, one of the primitive 
churches, was founded by the first Spanish settlers, in 1560, in the only place in- 
habited by the Indians who lived in this valley. The ruins of this church were 
reconstructed, in 1862, by Don Geronimo Silva. San J uan de Dios was founded as a 
hospital, in 1770. On a high hill overlooking the city, and which may be seen for 
miles before you reach the city, and from every part of it when you arrive there, 
is the old church of Los Remedios, a very ancient foundation, said by some to 
antedate the Cathedral. Every pilgrim who will visit this church on the 8th of 
September of each year subtracts seven years from his stay in purgatory. 




E START FOR THE BARRANCA, GUADALAJARA. 

There is nothing new under the sun in Durango, except the very modern rail- 
way station, prettily built, of stone, for use both as a passenger station and 
residence of the agent. It is surrounded by a pretty lawn, shaded by young trees, 
a piece of another country, it seems, transported here, and strangely in contrast 
with the very antique surroundings. There is a general freight depot, but each 
of the large dealers and mine owners has a freight house of his own, with side 
tracks, etc. Horse cars run from the station to the plaza and the hotels, and 
throughout the city. Very good carriages may be hired for places not reached 
by the cars. Durango is the capital of the State of the same name, located on the 
main line of Mexican International Railroad, 155 miles from Torreon, the junction 
with the Mexican Central Railway, 706 miles from the City of Mexico. The 
population is 35,000; altitude, 6,316 feet. 

Guadslaiara Early in the sixteenth century an expedition, under the cruel 
Wahd-tha-ia-A<n-a and treacherous Nuno de Beltran Guzman, started to the 
northwest, and proceeded as far as the boundaries of the present State of Jalisco; 
and, in the year 1530, the band under Juan de Ofiate founded a city under the 
name of Villa del Espiritu Santo de Guadalajara, not, however, on the site of the 
present city, and the one chosen soon proved to be undesirable. Another, in the 
Tlalcotlan Valley, was selected, and the settlement moved there. This location 
was as bad as the first, and, in the absence of Guzman, who, on account of his 
atrocities, had been recalled to Spain, a third selection was made, this time by the 
people themselves, in the beautiful valley called by the Indians Atemaxac, and 
there was founded, in 1541, the present city of Guadalajara, which has become the 
cleanest, brightest, and most delightful city in all the regions round-about. There 



107 



is always a desire on the part of the traveler to proceed to the Capital, to the City 
of Mexico, and whatever may retard his going there at once seems to him to defer 
a pleasure. That may be, but once in the Capital, and having done its more 
metropolitan attractions, it is easier to see the charms of other cities, and if a 
well-worn and time-honored policy of " save the best for the last," were to be car- 
ried out, the Capital would be nearer the first, and Guadalajara very near indeed 
to the end of the string. It is one of the most charming, most fascinating places 
in the world, in every way. It is beautifully located; the climate is superb, every 
dav being one of springtime; the streets are clean as a floor that is swept; the 
parks and plazas are ever green with pretty trees, and brightened with lovely 
flowers, that bloom in December as in June. Guadalajara may well be written 
down as Mexico's famous city. Every street and plaza has som-e novel attraction, 
its suburbs some novelty not found else- 
where, and in the near neighborhood such 
views of lake, cascade and canon beauties 
as are not surpassed in the world. 

The one single objection to the city is, 
that it has been repaired, renovated and 
repainted — and this latter, covering up the 
wrinkles of age with fresh color, is to be 
deprecated, on any pretext — but, in reality, 
none of this detracts from the pleasure of a 
visit. Long before the train arrives at the 
station, the towers of the Cathedral can be 
seen, and the outlines of the city discerned. 
The view is from the windows on the right- 
hand side of the cars. Guadalajara lies in 
the midst of a plain — on three sides rising in 
terraces to the mountains that almost sur- 
round it, and on the west side is the jump- 
ing-off place to the tierra caliente where the 
mountams seem to cease, and the plain and 
sky come together. 

The train does not stop on the outskirts, 
as at most places in Mexico, but comes to a 
station in the city, near the garden of San 
Francisco, and very near the principal plaza. 
The streets run at right angles, intersecting 
the parks and plazas, of which there are a 
score or more, with fourteen portales that 
cover the sidewalks for many squares, four- 
teen bridges, five theatres, that of Degollado being the largest on the continent, 
except, perhaps, the Metropolitan Opera House, in New York, or the Auditorium, 
of Chicago. There are five tiers of seats, stalls and boxes, and the decorations 
are very handsome indeed. The Degollado was opened in 1866, by the famous 
Mexican cantatrice, Peralta. The other theatres are the Apollo, Principal and 
the Circo de Progreso. There are twenty-five baths, twenty-three restaurants, 
and twenty-eight hotels, and when it is remembered that this city did not have a 
railroad till 1888, these statistics have more import. 

The public buildings, the Cathedral, Governor's Palace, the Mint, Degollado 
Theatre, and the State Capitol of Jalisco are magnificent specimens of Mexican 
architecture not expected in this far-away place. The Paseo is a beautiful drive 
on both sides of the Rio San Juan de Dios, which runs northward in the eastern 
part of the city; the drive extends from the Alameda to the southern boundary. 



*t^ 




' '^^>i^^^S& ■'. 




WtM^ 


!E^^''' 


frT, 1 




\m.^' 


~^^^''"*™'^*^*^e53R!^^^0ffra| 



SAN JOSE, GUADALAJARA. 



108 

Besides the Alameda the principal parks are the Plaza de Armas, Jardin Botanico, 
Parque Alcade, and the Calzada de San Pedro, beautifully adorned with tropical 
trees and ever-blooming flowers. 

As to churches, the Cathedral is a magnificent structure. The original 
foundation was laid in 1548, in a hut thatched with straw. The present building 
was commenced in 1561, the corner stone was laid ten years later, on July 31st, by 
Bishop Ayola, and the building was completed in 1618; the towers were thrown 
down by the earthquake of 1818. The clock between the towers was also in- 
jured by the earthquake. The interior is rich in decorations and paint- 
ings; one, the Assumption, by Murillo, is especially fine, and there are others too 
numerous to attempt description. The two towers are wholly unlike any others 
in Mexico, but more like the steeples of the churches of this country. In one of 
them is the " Campanita del Correo" literally, the little bell of the courier, or 
post, which rang only in announcement of some event of importance. Another 
bell, called San Clemente, was, in former times, rung during a thunder storm, to 
ward off the lightning. An adjunct to the Cathedral is the Sagrario, a compara- 
tively new structure, commenced in 1808 and completed in 1843. 

The other churches are San Francisco, San Agustin, San Felipe, La Com- 
pania, Guadalupe, Mexicaltzingo, Jesus Maria, Capuchinas, Santa Teresa, Santa 
Maria, La Merced, Santa Monica, El Carmen, San Jose de Analco, San Sebastian 
de Analco, La Parroqua de Jesus, San Juan de Dios, Aranzazu, La Soledad, San 
Diego, Belen, La Concepcion, La Trinidad y la Parroqua del Pilar, with others in 
course of construction. 

One of the most famous institutions of Guadalajara is the Hospicio, and one 
of the most notable in the world. It is a handsome building of white stone, 
covering an entire square, and containing twenty-three patios, or courts, with 
fountains and flowers. It is not a hospital, as popularly supposed, but a home for 
the poor of all ages, from the baby in the cradle to old men and women bent with 
their mfirmities. The institution is admirably managed, under authority of the 
State of Jalisco. Children are taught all that may be learned in schools, and as 
they grow older they learn some useful occupation in the arts and sciences, and 
the product of their labor is offered for sale, in support of the Hospicio, among 
which are some of the most exquisite embroideries and laces, made by the girls. 
Music, painting and calisthenics are a part of the tuition, while the more practical 
matters of life involve serious attention. No permit of entrance is required. You 
will be met at the gate by one of the Sisters in charge, and placed under the 
guidance of an attendant, who will show you one of the most interesting places 
you may find in all your travels. 

The towers seen from the right-hand windows of the cars, on the approach to 
Guadalajara, are at San Pedro, a suburb of 
Guadalajara. The village is about two leagues 
east of the city, reached by horse cars that A* 

start from near the northeast corner of the -i*i.t ^.' 

main plaza, and run over a very pictur- ^py^sv- lii.^ - 

esque road, the Calzada de San Pedro, 

shaded by large trees and ends in a very pretty plaza. The wealthier class of 

Gaudalajara have their summer residences at San Pedro, and some of their houses 

. „ ^ ,._;, are very beautiful indeed. The famous Gaudalajara ware, 

that is known the world over, is from the potteries of San 

■ri',\:i>. Pedro, and at San Pedro only is it absolutely certain to be 

•i>^ : able to get the genuine. It is sold at greatly reduced 

prices from thoseasked in the 

•^ curiosity stores in the city, 

where there is no certainty of 



109 




genuineness. If you will walk two squares east on the street that 
leads from the southeast corner of the plaza of San Pedro, turn 
down to the right half a square, you will come to a low adobe 
house on the left side of the street. The latch string is on the 
outside, and a warm welcome within its doors 
from Juan Panduro, the Indian sculptor, who 
will show and sell samples of his exquisite 
handiwork, or, rather, their handiwork, for - - 
there are two artists — father and 
son; and if you desire a bust 
or statuette of yourself of life- 
like likeness, it may be 
modeled while you wait, 
afterwards baked 
and sent to your > -"" 

hotel, or the -'■»-»• '^*^ 

artists will call at " - „„^^^-.-- .; at the ferry in the barranca, 

the hotel and do the ^P*" guadalajara. 

modeling in your room. 

There are four horse-car lines leading to as many suburbs, each an interesting 
ride. If there is time to do them all they are worth it. 

But to the barranca is not so easy a journey, yet not one that even the fatigue of a 
burro ride will bring any regrets. It is two hours through the streets and across 
the plain and another hour for the descent; this latter hour is worth a hundred 
anywhere else for the very novelty of it. It is a narrow winding path down the 

"-^~ mountain side, a path just wide 
enough for the trains of burros to 
pass as they go up and down. They 
rome to the mouth of the canon 
without any hint of it till you are on 
the brink of a yawning chasm that 
looks ten thousand feet deep, but it is not quite so much 
- - as that; it is only two thousand feet, and the road makes 

tiie descent in little more than a mile, though its crooks and turns make it about 
three miles; these crooks and turns are so short that a train of twenty burros will 
in some places have four turns in it, so that the riders see each other immediately 
above and below. 

The scenery is grandly magnificent and wholly indescribable, so wildly pic- 
turesque, not as seen from a car window; here you are in the very midst of great 
castled rocks, frowning precipices and unfathomable abysses, passing first the 
scraggy mountain oaks till, in the lower road, the path is through a forest of bananas 
and shaded by their broad leaves. At the bottom of the barranca is the Lerma 
River, here called the Rio de Santiago, and on either side the towering mountains 
lift up in perpendicular cliffs, in the grandest pictures of sublime magnificence. 
A little ferry, with narrow boats pulled from side to side by a rope, transfers 
passengers and the freight brought by the burros, while the poor little beasts 
that never get a ride anywhere must swim here. The return takes a little 
longer time, as the ascent is more difficult, but the riding is more comfortable 
going up hill, and the journey back to the city is about four hours. All in all the 
trip is a thousand times worth the fatigue of it. 

Near Guadalajara are the beautiful Falls of Juanacatlan, a cascade with a 
clear leap of over seventy-one feet — a veritable Niagara, of somewhat abbrevi- 
ated dimensions, but, truly, the wonder of this country. Like the greater Niagara 
of the North, the waters have been harnessed to turn the wheels of a mill and 




Nbo 



110 

the dynamos for the lig-hts of Guadalajara. To reach the Falls of Juanacatlan, 
stop at the station of El Castillo, either as you come or go. 

"Guadalajara is the capital of the State of Jalisco, and is on the western division of 
the Mexican Central Railway, 381 miles from the City of Mexico. The altitude 
is 5,872 feet, and the population 100,000. 

Guanajuato ^^^ nomenclature of the cities and towns of Mexico 
\Van-a-/«(-to. requires a curious spelling that is often at variance with the 

pronunciation, but when once you know how to call the names they are as 
musical as at first they seem hard to say. The derivation of these names is for 
the most part from the Tarascan or the Otomite tongue, or of Toltec or Aztec 
origin, "in latter days given a Spanish spelling which, properly enunciated, bears 
some resemblance to the original. 

The Tarascan Indians named this place Qtianashuato, signifying the hill of 
the frogs, and the Spaniards changed either spelling or pronouncing very little 
when they spelled it Guanajuato and pronounced it IVan-a-wa-to, with just a 
suspicion of a "g" before the " watty As to the wherefore of the "hill of the 
frogs " does not appear in the legend, unless the hill was named in honor of one of 
their gods, one of which, in the shape of a huge frog cut in stone, was found here. 

To reach Guanajuato the traveler must go to Silao on the Mexican Central 
Railway, where there is a branch road leading twelve miles eastward to Marfil; 
thence by horse cars up the barrmtca, nearly three miles, to the center of the city, 
over the most interesting road, for its length, in Mexico. From Marfil to the 
Jardin de la Union and the Presa de la 011a the route is along the highway that 
leads up the gulch, as an American miner would call it, through, under and over 
the immense silver production works. A good plan is to retain seats on the horse 
cars as far as Jardin de la Union, and then change to another, going on up the hill to 
the Presa de la 011a. Perched on the steep hillsides that rise almost perpendicularly 
are the low flat houses in such out-of-reach places that it is a wonder how any- 
thing but a goat could ever get there; there are hundreds of these houses on both 
of the mountains, some of them so far up that they look like dry-goods boxes 
that might have been carried there by a cyclone and lodged on some crag or 
jutting rock, and the fact that they are all inhabited is proof that the Mexican is 
a good climber whatever else he may not be. This highway along which the 
street cars run is crowded with people, burros and dogs, going up and coming 
down, in all shapes and sizes, laden or unladen as the errand may or may not 
have been performed. 

The houses of that antique mold that suggests Egypt or the Holy Land are 
larger and better, till at the Jardin de la Union are some really fine buildings, a 
grand theatre, some fine churches and the Palacio Gobierno. The road does not 
end here, but continues on up the barranca to what I may call the top of the 
city, where are some of the most romantic little homes in a most picturesque 
residence district. A stream which comes down from the upper hills falls from 
one reservoir to the other, forming little lakelets that are crossed by bridges to 
the houses on the other side. The walls of the reservoirs and the bridges are 
covered with vines and flowers, and the houses are completely embowered with 
them. I remember one of these charming nests — 1 can't call it anything else — 
as dainty a piece as was ever a subject for a canvas. There is scarcely room 
between the rocks and the stream for the house, and it is built on arches that 
stand in the water. Overhanging trees and vines from the cliffs above make a 
bower of beauty that casts a grateful shade over the balconies and Moorish arches 
below, so that the sunlight comes to that house softened by swaying leaves and 
the air perfumed by ever-blooming flowers. 

The Pompeiian colors of the walls and arches added other hues and tints to 
the brighter ones of the flowers. Some pea-fowls sat sleepily on a wall, a cock 



Ill 



with spreading plumes strutted proudly up and down, and in the lake the ducks 
floated lazily. From an upper casement window where the awning cloth was 
thrown outside the casement rail, as is the fashion, two dark-haired beauties robed 
in white, the long braids making inky stripes that must have reached almost to 
their feet, looked out. Dost like the picture ? There were two of them — one in 
reality, the other in bright reflection in the clear crystal waters of the lakelet. 

It is an up-hill walk from the Jardin de la Union to the little alameda at the 
Presa de la 011a, where the band plays evenings, Sundays and feast days, yet 
worth it all ; but if you are not equal to it, ride up on the cars and walk down for 




THE CATACOMBS OF GUANAJUATO. 



the sights by the way and the grand view of the city and the surrounding country. 
The Mint is one of the finest and largest in the country and coins more money 
than any other. The process of melting the bars of silver, stamping and milling, 
is the same as in our mints; but there is the white-haired old Indian, whose locks 
seem silvered by the metal he has ladled from the furnace to the molds in thirty 
long years of continual service, and there are the two Indians seated on low stools 
literally surrounded by the silver coins, handling every piece, and by passing 
them through their fingers and over the palms of their hands detecting the slightest 
scratch or minute defect. A long practice has made them perfect, and they never 



112 

inake a mistake in picking up twenty coins at a grasp, no more, no less, and 
never failing to throw out an imperfect piece. Such a keen sense of touch is truly 
wonderful, and it is stated as a fact that their work is so perfect that no further 
examination is made, but the coins rejected by them are returned to the furnace 
to be melted over again. The mint is curiously built, but a strong, substantial 
building, that might have been a treasure house in Babylon of old, even to the 
hanging garden that adorns the roof with growing flowers. 

The centre of the field of operations in doing Guanajuato should be at the 
Jardin de la Union. Near are the churches, the theatres, the hotels, the Mint and 
State buildings, the Alhondiga de Granaditas, erected in 1785 as a Chamber of 
Commerce, now used as a prison. It was captured by Hidalgo in the early part 
of the war for Independence, and after he and the other patriots were captured 
and executed at Chihuahua, their heads were brought here and hung on hooks on 
the walls of this building. Hidalgo is still shown — I mean the hook is still shown. 
The Mexicans repented them of the execution of the patriot priest, and the hang- 
ing of his head on these walls, and erected the bronze statue that stands at the 
entrance. The Theatre is a fine building built of the beautiful green stone found 
at the head of the ravine. 

There is wealth of paintings in the churches of Guanajuato as there is a wealth 
of silver in its mines. The churches are fine, especially that of the Compania, 
commenced in 1747, and finished in 1765, the shelf cut out of the rock for its 
foundations alone costing nearly $100,000. The tower contains a chime of 
bells, and you may have heard before you came, or known, after you heard the bells 
of Mexico, that they are not usually hung in chimes. The dome somewhat resem- 
bles that of the Capitol at Washington, and is the one seen high above all the 
others in all views of Guanajuato. The old Church of San Sebastian is on the 
line of street cars leading to the Presa de la OUa; in the churchyard are scores 
of crumbling tombs with curious inscriptions. Th? Church of San Diego contains 
the picture of the Last Supper of San Francisco. The other churches are San 
Francisco, Loreto and Guadalupe. In the former is the much-venerated image of 
Our Lady of Guanajuato, presented by Philip II. of Spain. 

High up on a hill, in the western part of the city, is a panteon that may be called 
a replica of the catacombs of the Old World. In the vaults are artistically ar- 
ranged the bodies and bones of lates lamented, whose departure from this vale of 
tears covers more than one century. The visit to the panteon is not the most 
cheerful one, but the curious-minded will be entertained. The panteon proper is 
a cemetery in which there are few graves. The bodies are placed in tombs, ar- 
ranged in tiers in the thick walls. A stipulated sum is paid for the first five years 
with the privilege of renewal. If at the end of that time the mourners' grief has 
cooled, and further payment is not made, the body is taken from the hole in the 
wall. If nothing but bones remain they are thrown into the heap at the end of the 
arched corridor under the panteon. If the body is preserved in the dry air of the 
climate it is stood up against the wall to grin, and bear company to the other 
mummies that have stood there through the ages. About half way between the 
station at Marfil and the Jardin de la Union is a little park on the right as you go 
up ; stop here, and walk up the hill on the north side of the street to the panteon, 
or call most any Mexican that may be standing by, tell him you want burros; he 
will have them there in a jiffy, and you may ride up. 

The city of Guanajuato is totally unlike any other in Mexico, and the visit 
there is one that will be remembered ; but the legends and fairy tales would form 
a volume if they were all written down, from the turning of the hose on the hogs 
to wash the silver from their bristles, gathered in their wallows in the pools, to the 
miracles priests performed. I remember mine, and all the sights seen from the 
galop of the street-car mules up the hill from Marfil, till I bought the helados from 



113 

an Indian boy as I took my seat in the train for Silao. I will explain that an 
helado, or as the venders cry the name, " e-low" is a sort of ice cream, frozen in a tin 
tube about an inch in diameter and four inches long, and it was not the least of the 
pleasant surprises I found at Guanajuato. 

Guanajuato, the capital of the State of the same name, is 250 miles from the 
City of Mexico, and 15 miles by branch road from the main line of the Mexican 
Central Railway at Silao; the altitude is 6,837 feet, and the population gS,ooo. 




, >-.';,^'. E.^.VW'v'^-'^^"- 



IrapUatO Irapuato means strawberries; not that this is the translation of 
ir-ra-procif-o the word, but when the name of that station is called and the 
train stops there, all the passengers go out and buy strawberries. No matter if 
it is December or January, the cry of "fresas!" is heard on all sides — and great 
luscious berries, the finest and sweetest in the world, are offered at midsummer 
prices, and the bottom of the basket does not exhibit that rising tendency so com- 
mon to the strawberry box of the United States. Irapuato is also celebrated as 
the place to change cars for Guadalajara. 

The city is on the west side of the track; only the church towers may be seen 
from the station above the green trees which surround them. Here is a pretty 
little city worthy of a stop-over check for one train at least, or if en route for 
Guadalajara there is often time for a horse-car ride up town. The town is irreg- 
ularly laid out, if mdeed it was ever laid out, the narrow streets turning here and 
there, converging to numerous little plazas, and to the Alameda in the center of 
the city, where there is a combination of cleanliness and beauty of artistic gar- 
dening. There is also a queer combination in the two old-fashioned well-sweeps 
that might have come from "down south," and the beautiful music stand that 
exists only in Mexico. The wells and well-sweeps are for irrigation purposes for 
the exquisite flower beds that adorn the park, the borders of which are in fantas- 
tic shapes, laid with pebbles and boulders in different colors. The trees and 
shrubs are also similarly decorated and protected about the roots. 

The music stand, the necessary adjunct of every Mexican town, is at Irapuato 
athing of beauty and a joy to its people, when the band plays in the evenings and 
on the feast days and Sundays. It is in the center of the park, under the trees and 
surrounded with flowers — so there's fragrance with the melody. 

There are churches and churches, and pictures and pictures, in name from 
Guadalupe to San Fransisco and each seeming different from the last one, so there 



114 




THE MARKET PLACE, IRAPUATO. 

must be a look into each arched door and a stroll through nave and sacristy and 
climbs to belfry tower as everywhere else, and withal there is nothing disappoint- 
ing in Irapuato, from the strawberries to the little fonda on the plaza. 

Irapuato is on the Mexican Central Railway, 212 miles from the national capi- 
tal; it has an altitude of 5,054 feet, and a population of 26,000 people. 

Jalapa "A7>e Maria purisiiiia, que venga el sol y be your prayer when you 

HaWiip-pa come to Jalapa, as the Jalapeiio invokes the Virgin to let the sun 

shine through the mists that almost constantly hang over the place — not that it 

rains, but a fine hlmy mist prevails, in contrast to the bright sunshine of all 

other Mexico. But when the sun shines, than Jalapa there is not a brighter spot 



115 

on earth, nor one more quaintly curious, nor yet any other more charmingly fas- 
cinating. Whether your coming be down from the mountains or up from the sea, 
you may look from your window in the car with an anticipation not akin to the 
thoughts as you came to the others of these old-time towns. Either way the 
approach has been through tropic forests, and the stop at the station is in the 
midst of one. 

There is an incongruity in the modern newness of the railroad surroundings, 
the electric lights and the horse cars. A glance beyond these is looking back- 
ward into another century. In the ride up town, the nineteenth is between the 
rails of the track and the sidewalk is back in the sixteenth, where the red-tiled 
roofs project over the walk-way, and casemated windows are strongly iron-barred 
to keep bandits and lovers out, and sweethearts and wives within. These iron 
bars may have been a necessity in the old bandit days, but not for that purpose 
now, although it may be they are retained 'gainst the lovers, for the women are 
reputed for their beauty, till it has become a proverb among the Mexicans, "las 
yaiape^as son halagkenas" "bewitching, alluring are the women of Jalapa," and 
whether this is the principal reason why Jalapa is considered as "a part of Paradise 
let down to earth" does not appear. However that may be, the American who has 




IN JALAPA. 



116 



never been there, and knows only the product, the jalap of the old family doctor, 
is apt to consider it anything else but Paradise, and perhaps has wondered if any 
good could come from the town; but when he has seen "las Jalapenas" he may 
even forget the jalap's dose. 

In the days when the journey thither involved a horse-car ride of seventy 
miles and two days' time going and returning, the attractions were sufficient to 
allure hundreds of tourists, and now that it is on a main line between the City of 
Mexico and Vera Cruz, and reached within a few hours from either city, their 
numbers will increase. 

There is a fashion to speak of Mexico as "old Mexico" — eminently proper but 
unnecessary. There is nothing new there but the railways; but whatever ancient- 
ness that may impress elsewhere, there is something older about Jalapa; really it 
seems to have the age on all the 
other towns in the country. It was 
a place of importance when Cortez 
came. The houses on both sides 
of the narrow streets are of a 
cumbersome style of architecture, 
with here and there traces of the 
Moorish or Castilian. The long 
windows, heavily barred with iron, 
reach nearly to the ground, and if 
there is a second story, there is a 
bit of projection forming a case- 
ment or balcony, and over the rail- 
ing the brightly colored curtain in 
yellow and red keeps out the too 
intense rays of a tropic sun, and 
niay also keep out the too intent 
gaze of some son upon the face 
and form of the senorita that may 
be behind it. And this makers a 
memory of some old Castilian story 
of maiden and mandolin, of cabal- 
lero and casement, of music and 
moonlight — for here are the very 
walls ('tis well they have not ears ) 
and there the window and the bal- 
cony where some Romeo may have 
climbed, and some Juliet leaned 

her cheek upon her hand. Jalapa a street of jalapa. 

lies on the eastern hillsides of Meniltepec, and the streets running on steep in- 
clines, or across the slopes, are cleaned by every passing shower, so that cleanli- 
ness, as well as beauty and antiquity are attributes of this delightful city— an 
example of nature's, emulated by the natives within their homes and gardens. 

The grandeur of the scenery round about is unsurpassed. Just back of the 
city is a great mountain with a great chalk-like rock, which from its shape — like 
a chest — is called the cof?-e, the Cofre de Perote, and farther away to the south- 
west is the snow-capped peak of Orizaba, another of Mexico's extinct volcanoes, 
towering high above the surrounding mountains. To the east the hills get lower 
and lower, till far away the dim outline of blue defines the coming together 
of sky and sea. 

Excursions to Coatepec may be made by horse car, or by the old highway 
through tropical forests and coffee groves, on foot or burro-back. The quaintly 




117 

pretty little town and grand view of the Coatepec Valley is worth all the journty 
there. Another very interesting trip maybe made to Jilotepec, about six miles 
away down in the valley, to be made on horseback or by burros. The burros are 
rather to be chosen, for the very novelty of it, and for safety as well — one does 
not have so far to fall. 

The Palacio Gobierno is the building of the city, though by no means the most 
interesting. Its location is on the Plaza Mayor. There is a very pretty little 
theatre, most unique in its appointments, hardly to be expected in this so long 
out-of-the-way place. The Institute of the Ordnance Survey is located at Jalapa, 
and has produced some fine maps and topographical drawings. 

The present Cathedral was formerly the church of the Conception, founded in 
the sixteenth century. The other churches are San Francisco, founded in 1555, 
San Juan de Dios, San Hipolito, 1641, San Jose, 1770, and the Calvario, 1805, 
dating their foundations from the sixteenth to the nineteenth centuries. 

While there is much of interest in their altars, shrines and paintings, the 
charms of Jalapa are without the walls of these or any .other buildings, unless it 
be those where live the Jalapenas. 

Jalapa means a "place of water and sand." It was an Indian town when 
Cortez came, and being on the main road from the coast to the capital was a 
place of importance. From 1720 to 1777 an annual fair was held for the sale of 
goods brought from Cadiz to Spain. Jalapa is the capital of the State of Vera 
Cruz. The city is located on the main line of the Interoceanic Railway, 257 
miles from the City of Mexico. The altitude 154,372 feet, and the population 15,000. 




Lagos A city three hundred years old in Mexico is not uncommon, and 
Lah-sose some of them had gotten their growth when their charters were 
granted; that is about the age of the city that was formerly called Santa Maria de 
los Lagos. In modern times it has lost much of its trade and some of its name. 
It was formerly the point of connection with diligencias for Guadalajara and San 
Luis Potosi, but the completion of the railways to both of these cities took even 



118 



this business away. However, it is not commercial importance that attracts to 
the average Mexican town, and Lagos has what all the others have, and a visit 
will not be disappointing. It is a pretty town, on the west side of the track, yet 
hardly to be seen, it is so overshadov/ed by trees. There are many interesting 
features in its churches, markets, streets and plazas, and there is a boast of good 
provender and good wine at the hotels 

Lagos is in the State of Jalisco, on the Line of the Mexican Central Railway, 
2g6 miles from the city. The altitude is 6,134 feet; the population is 40,000. 
Horse cars run from the station to the center of the city. 




JUDAS ON SALE— PHOTO AT LEON. 

Leon On a broad and fertile plain watered by the Rio Turbio is the greatest 
Lay-own manufacturing city of all Mexico, though the fact is not discoverable 
from the cars. There are no many-storied buildings with tall chimneys indicating 
such industries, but they are here at Leon. Every citizen lives in his own house, 
and his home is his workshop. There is scarcely an article of use or ornament 
but what is made at Leon. The beautiful saddles, bridles and horse accoutrements 
so much affected by the Mexican; shoes and all other leathern goods, zerapes and 
rebosos answering the purpose of coats and shawls for men and women, cotton and 
woolen goods, iron ware and cutlery, are all manufactured at Leon, and every 
one of the little low, square-built houses is a busy shop of some kind or other. 

There is no indication, from the station, of a city of such size and importance, 
nor from the street cars as they wind through the cactus-hedged lanes for a mile or 
more, and come to the long, narrow streets, crossing others at right angles that 
seem of the same intermmable length with their never-ending rows of houses as 



119 



far as the eye can reach. This car Une reaches to the main plaza, a very pretty 
one, with the market at one corner, and the Casa Municipal on one side, and on 
the other three, the portales, with clean, well-kept shops and stores, offering the 
products of the town. The plaza is shaded with trees, and there are flowers and 
fountains and the inevitable music stand. Horse cars lead out to an old causeway, 
now resorted to as a paseo for promenades and drives to the pretty gardens in the 
suburbs. A little further out, on the road to the north, are some hot springs 
and baths. 

The establishment of the church in Leon received a set-back at the start, in 
the murder of the cura, Espinoso, by the Chichmec Indians in 1586, but the 
church survived, and those buildings now in existence are very interesting, both 
for their great age and peculiar decoration. The one with the great dome and 
two high towers was formerly the Church of Nuestra Senora de la Luz, commenced 
in 1746 (now, since 1886, the Cathedral), and is over 200 feet long but only forty-five 
wide. Here is an origmal painting of Our Lady of Light, the Patroness of Leon, 
presented, as attested by the Jesuit signatures on the back, by Jose Maria Genovesi, 
in 1740. In the Church of Nuestra Senora de los Angeles are some very curious 
carvings by a native artist, one Munoz of most happy memory. The other 
churches are La Soledad, San Felipe and San Juan, the former being the oldest. 

Some idea of the size of Leon may be formed from the knowledge that there 
are 507 streets, 7,820 houses, 236 manzanas, and ten plazas. There was a Spanish 
town on this site in the year 1552, referred to in the royal archives as the town 
of Leon, from which time the city dates its age, though the formal order for its 
foundation was not issued by Viceroy Almanza until 1575, and this order not royally 
confirmed until 1712. It was not made a city until after the war of 1810, when 
it was so declared by the State of Guanajuato, in which State it is. 

Leon is on the Mexican Central Railway, 259 miles from the City of Mexico; 
the population is 100,000, and the altitude 5,863 feet. 

LerdO Near the Nazas River, and in the midst of a very fertile cotton 

iaej-do region, this is one of the newest towns in Mexico, and its boast is 

in an equable climate, cotton mills and oil manufactories rather than antiquities. 

There is a pretty garden in the principal plaza 
with seats under the trees. There are four 
churches, a market and the Plaza de Toros to 
■■.^>.,5, be visited. 

The soil of the Lerdo plain is very fertile, 

and the climate is particularly adapted to the 

culture of cotton; it is claimed that two 

-. and three crops may be made without 

, ; .,-j,\ , ^.^ replanting, and as to corn and 

wheat they just grow all the time. 

It is only three miles south from 

Lerdo to Torreon, the junction 

point of the International and the 

Mexican Central Railroads. The 

city is on the west side of the road 

and about three miles distant, 

reached by horse cars that run 

across the plain, through an avenue 

shaded by green trees. 

Lerdo is on the Mexican Cen- 
tral Railway, 684 miles from the 
capital; altitude, 3,844 feet; popu- 

FROM THE STATION TO THE TOWN — LERDO. lation, I 1 ,000. 





120 




MaravatiO Looking from the west windows of an approaching 
Marry-va-(<?e-o train, the picture is a pretty one of green trees, with 
red-tiled roofs peeping just above them, and over all a Moorish 
tower, with its bells, is lifted up against the blue sky. An arched 
bridge of stone is on the other side, where it spans a branch of 
the river Lerma; a beautiful, stream passes under the track just 
south of the station. The town lies quite close to the railroad, and 
there is often time for more than a passing view 
in a stroll through the crooked streets to the prin- 
cipal plaza where there are fountains and 
flowers. In the suburbs of San Nicolas and 
San Miguel are the other plazas reached by 
other still more crooked streets, which 
also lead to a small lake just outside of 
the town. San Juan Bautista is the parish 
church, a large, quaint old building in the 
form of a cross; the carved altars are 
worth seeing, as are also the other 
' churches,Columna and Nuestro Senor de 
^ los Herreros, Our Lord of the Black- 
smiths. Maravatio is one of the oldest of 
Mexico's old towns, and has a reputation 
all over the country for the excellence of 
the shoes manufactured there. The 
original town was called Maravatio 
el Alto, located 15 miles southwest, 
and was founded in 1535; the present 
town was founded in 1541. 
One of the old houses near the 
parish church bears date of 1573. Mara- 
vatio is on the Mexican National Railroad, 
138 miles from the city ; population, 6,000; altitude, 6,750 feet. 

MonclOVa has a history, and seems to be content with it. When Texas 
Mon-wo-va. and Coahuila were one State, Monclova was the capital; now 

it is the capital of neither, Texas having one of her own, and that of Coahuila 
having been removed to Saltillo. Monclova is in the center of a rich mining dis- 
trict ; the most important are the mines Cuatro Cienegas and Sierra Mojada. 
Monclova is a very old town, and as such is a very interesting one. It was named 
for the Viceroy Melchor Portocarrero Lazo de la Vega, Conde de la Monclova, 
but for obvious reasons has not retained the entire name, which is to be applauded 
if for no other reason than for the benefit of the trainman who calls the stations 
along the line, since he has such inferior success with the shorter ones. Mon-- 
clova is on the Mexican International Railroad, 942 miles from the City of Mexico. 
It is in the State of Coahuila ; altitude, 1,926 feet; population, 5,000. 

Monterey The Spaniards had penetrated far into the interior and to the 
Mon-te-raT/ northward, before the middle of the sixteenth century, and in 

1560 had reached near the now American border. In that year they founded the 
town of Santa Lucia, that was afterwards called Monterey in honor of the then 
viceroy, Don Capar de Zuhiga, Conde de Monterey, the permanent settlement 
being made in September of 1596 by Fray Diego de Leon. If he had sought 
the country over he could not have found a more lovely site for a city than in this 
valley of level lands. It is completely surrounded by high hills, curiously shaped, 
and the prettiest in Mexico. So curiously shaped are their dark blue outlines, clear 
cut against the sky, that the one. Cerro de la Silla, 4149 feet above the plain, is a 




121 



perfect saddle of the military type known as the McClellan, and, at the peak, is 
shaped exactly like the saddles seen in Mexico, requiring no stretch of the imagina- 
tion, as in the case of the old Man of the Mountain ana Anthony's Nose, the saddle 
mountain being recognized at a glance. The Cerro de las Mitras, 3618 feet high, 
is the mountain of the mitres. It does not so assert itself, but the mitres are just 
as compelling as the saddle, and that piece of the bishop's vestrnxCnts is as dis- 
cernible to the average vivid vision. They are the bluest of blue mountains 
standing out against the very bluest sky, and the marvelously clear atmosphere 
is responsible for it all. 

These mountains surround a lovely valley watered by clear running streams 
and carpeted by the green of fertile fields that are brightened further by flower- 
ing gardens, with great trees to shade the lanes and streets. In the midst of this 
is Monterey, as quaintly novel as the valley is very beautiful. 

Here, through the city, there runs a living stream of cold, clear water that has 
its source in the great spring, the Ojo de Agua. Along its banks the people come 
to bathe under the shade of the overhanging foliage. On a bridge. La Purisima, 
where one of the principal streets crosses this stream, the Mexicans made a 
valiant stand against the advancing Americans in '46, and while, as the legend 
says, the Virgin of Guadalupe hovered over the banners of Mexico, they held 
the pass as the Spartans at Thermopylae. 

In the western part of the c\iy kxq \he casus dei cavtpo, 3. semi-suburban dis- 
trict where the houses are in beautiful gardens of fruits and flowers, with 
streams of running water and fountains under beautiful trees. These are reached 
by horse cars, as are all of the points of interest in and around Monterey. Special 
cars may be hired at reasonable rates, and they are much to be preferred to the 
carriages that rattle in an uncertain way over the stony streets; especially are the 
horse cars to be preferred for the rides to the Bishop's Palace and to Topo Chico. 
The Bishop's Palace is a very picturesque old ruin on a high hill northwest of the 
city, seen from almost every part of it and from the cars. 
The Palace was commenced in 1782 and completed in 
17QO, by Bishop Verger, for a summer residence. It is i 
now fallen into disuse, and occupied solely by two sen- 
tries, whose lonely watches are changed once 
a month. These two are but a memory of the ^^■ 
gallant army that defended the hill .-^y-'^ 

against the assaulting Americans, 
under General Worth, on the 21st of 
September, 1849, when the capture of 
the hill meant the surrender of the city. 
It is a pleasant ride across the plain 
to the Hot Springs of Topo Chico. The 
wonderful hot waters issue from the 
side of a hill about three miles to the 
north. The ride through the fields is 
a pleasant one, and at the end of it 
there are pavilions, baths and a good 
hotel. The legend of Montezuma's 
daughter, her journey to Topo Chico 
and miraculous cure by the all-healing 
waters, lives in the centuries after her- 
came from the far-away Hill of the Grasshopper, a 
weak and puny maiden, but when she came again to 
Chapultepec it was with renewed life and vigor, to the rejoicing of all. The court 
of the plumed and feathered king became, at once, agents for the Topo Chico. 





-how she 



122 



The waters are only to be bathed in to insure their own recommendation, and 
they so resemble the great Hot Springs of Arkansas that they are only to be as 
well known to make thenri equally popular. 

The other excursions by horse car and carriage from Monterey are to Santa 
Catarina and the chapels of Guadalupe and Lourdes, and eight miles further to 
El Potrero, the road leading through a beautiful canon to a valley of meadows 
surrounded by mountains. About nineteen miles south of the city, reached by 
rail, are two wonderful caves near the little village of Pesqueria. 

The only really old church of Monterey is that of San Francisco, dating from 
1560. The present church was built in 1730, though there are some of the old 
ruins adjoining it, near the Plaza Mayor, where there is a picturesque old convent 
with a garden. The Cathedral is a massive structure after the style of the 
average church of Mexico; it was commenced in 1792, finished in 1833, and con- 
secrated on the 4th of July of that year. It was used as a powder magazine 
during the American war, and its walls and towers give evidence in their scars of 
the vicissitudes of war. 

The main plaza is a very pretty one indeed; it is, in fact, two plazas, with the 
Casa Municipal between them. At the east end is the Cathedral, and just south 
of it is the Episcopal Palace. Near by is the State House and Theatre. The 
Alameda and Campo Santa are in the northwest of the city. 

Monterey is a much Americanized city, with its great smelters, factories and 
breweries, but it is Mexican withal, and is a most delightful first-view town across 
the border. Monterey is at the crossing of the Mexican National and Monterey 
& Mexican Gulf Railroads, and is the capital of the State of Nuevo Leon. The 
population is 30,000; altitude 2,010 feet above sea-level, and is distant from the 
City of Mexico 667 miles. Horse cars run from both railway stations to the 
Plaza Mayor. 

Morelia Than Morelia there is no more lovely city in all Mexico, 
Mo-ray-iia and its people are content with it, to remain within its 
walls, going not abroad except where business calls, and that only 
when it is most urgent; when you have seen them in their homes 
there will be no wonder at their contentment. In the olden days when 
Ithe Viceroys of Spain or their emissaries were going about in Mexico 
founding cities, they, with one accord, seemed to have had an eye for 
the beautiful in the selection of a site, and particularly did Mendoza 
have when in 1541 he founded the city of Valladolid, (now 
called Morelia in honor of the patriot Morelos,) when, as the 
ancient chronicler says, the Viceroy found a site having the 
seven qualities of Plato, and founded a small but very noble 
city, now grown to a large and nobler city, whose towers are 
seen from afar with their belfries and crosses over the inter- 
vening hills. There is a "saddle" mountain at Morelia and 
others as curiously shaped on all sides, sloping down to 
smaller undulating hills and valleys in the midst of which 
the city is. Coming from the east the track runs along the 
river bank, where a large proportion of the populace do con- 
gregate for the launder of their clothes and themselves. It 
is a pretty river with great overhanging trees on either shore, making dark shadows 
over the waters, and a cooling shade protecting from rays of a southern sun. The 
river is on the north of the track, and the scene from the windows on that side is 
novel and interesting for a mile or more before the station is reached. 

Horse cars run from the station to the pretty plaza, to the very excellent hotels 
of Morelia and beyond to the suburbs, where there are the most charming and 
cosiest flower-embowered homes in the world. It is a pleasant horse-car ride, but 




AT MORELIA. 



123 

it is best to leave the car just where it starts down the hill by the old aqueduct 
and passes under its arches — then walk through the Calzada de Guadalupe, a wide 
stone-paved paseo that leads to the Parque de San Pedro. On each side is a 
massive stone balustrade, and at intervals convenient resting places on the 
benches, also of stone. There aretwo rows of tall trees with intertwining branches 
above, lending a constant shade over the causeway and over the houses on both 
sides. If you have never seen the Mexican home that you may have read of, and 
which you may have thought was described extravagantly, you may see it here, 
If haply some arched doorway is swung ajar you may have a glimpse of fairy- 
land that you would never dream could exist behind such a cold gray wall. The 
patio is filled with flowers; some vines have climbed to the upper galleries and 
almost hidden them with a bank of blossoms, blending in a perfect harmony of color 
from a deep carnation to a delicate pink, relieved by tints of blue and purple, 
with here and there some white and gold flowers. From a bed of flowers in the 
center, sparkling waters, as if from their petals instead of from hidden jets, fly in 
crystal globules to the overhanging leaves of a feathery palm. You may not see 
the birds, there are so many flowers to hide them, but the twittering, the whist- 
ling and singing in a hundred notes tell that they are there. Such are the homes 
of the Calzada de Guadalupe that leads from the city to the Parque de San Pedro, 
a park of great beauty, shadowed by a forest of great trees, a favorite resort of the 




AQUEDUCT AT MORELIA. 



people. Through the park runs the old aqueduct built by the good Fray Antonio 
de San Miguel Iglesias, in the year of the famine, 1785, as a means to provide 
food for the people. Under one of the high arches is a tablet commemorating 
the bishop's charity. 



124 

The Cathedral, one of the finest in all Mexico, and the Palacio de Gobierno 
stand facing each other in the city's center, fronting the plazas. The main plaza 
is called the Plaza of the Martyrs, commemorative of the execution here of a 
company of patriots in 1830, and here also Matamoros was executed ten years 
later. The plaza east of the Cathedral is that of La Paz where the market is, and 
where may be bought the dulces for which the town is noted, and also the curious 
pottery of Uruapam ; the other plaza is that of San Francisco, in front of the 
church of the same name. In the Plaza de los Martires the band plays, 
under a beautiful pagoda in the midst of a garden of trees and flowers ; here the 
people most do congregate, and here may Morelia's folks be seen at their best, (in 
the evenings when there's music, as there is two or three times a week,) — men of 
high and low degree, women who wear the mantilla and her more lowly sister 
of the reboso, both showing the beauty of the city's people. 

The Hotel Oseguera is a part of the building that was erected for the bishop's 
palace, but as its cost created talk among the people, it was abandoned to more 
profane uses and became a hotel, and one of the best and most unique in the 
land. The Hotel Michoacan has also a convent legend. The Ocampo Theatre 
is the chief place of amusement, excepting always the Plaza de Toros, built after 
the fashion of the bull-rings of old Spain, entirely of stone, very substantial and 
of immense seating capacity. 

Of the churches, of course the Cathedral is the most prominent, in fact there 
are few finer edifices anywhere than the Cathedral at Morelia ; its towers, the 
great organ, the silver altar rails, vestments and vessels, images and candelabra, 
all of fine silver, have not an equal — though what is there now is only a remnant, 
nearly half a million dollars' worth having been confiscated by the government 
in 1858, for the refusal to pay a levy of $100,000, and one wonders how it all could 
have been used and where to put it. There are some interesting pictures and 
handsome carvings and the silver font in which Iturbide and Morelos were 
baptized. The Cathedral was founded at Tzintzuntzan in 1538, was removed to 
Patzcuaro in 1540, and finally to Morelia in 1579, to the little church of La Cruz. 
The present building was begun in 1640 and completed m 1706. 

The Church of San Francisco was founded in 1531, but not completed until 
seventy years later; it is said that an underground passage leads from the church 
to the fields beyond the city. The Church of Nuestra Seiiora Socorro dates from 
1550, and contains a much venerated image of that Virgin. In the Santuario de 
Guadalupe are shown the chains around the atrium that were once used to shackle 
the prisoners of the State. The other churches are Carmen, 1596, with some fine 
pictures by Juan and Nicolas Juarez and Calvera. The Compania is of Jesuit 
foundation, a very handsome group of buildings, dating from 1582. The churches 
of Santa Catalina de Lena, Las Teresas and Capuchinaswere originally convents. 
La Merced and San Jose are smaller churches. The College of St. Nicholas is 
the oldest college in America, having been founded in 1540, by Bishop Ouiroga, 
a portrait of whom is preserved in the building. Among the pupils of later years 
were Morelos and Yturbide. The college was closed during the wars from which 
the country suffered, but remains to-day the oldest and one of the most flourishing 
institutions in the country. Morelia has also a very fine seminary for young 
ladies, however, of modern establishment. 

The surroundingcountry IS very picturesque and ten miles west are the famous 
hot springs of Cuincho, famed for their cures. Morelia is very famous in the 
country's history and suffered greatly in its wars, and many have been the dire 
and dark scenes enacted that made bloody marks on her escutcheon; but the fair 
city of to-day rejoices in honoring her heroes and dwells in contentment and 
peaceful hospitality. Morelia is the capital of the State of Michoacan; it is 
located on the western division of the Mexican National Railroad, 225 miles 



125 



from the capital of the Republic. The altitude is 6,226 feet, and the population 
35,000. Horse cars run from the station to the plaza and suburbs. 

Oaxaca ^^ ^^^ ^" ^^^ year of Montezuma's downfall that the conqueror, 
0-ah-/4C(oA.-ah Cortez, sent bands of men, here and there, to spy out the land he 
had invaded. He had deposed the Aztec princes, and the Emperor was in 
chains, a humiliated slave to the Spanish King. There was a lull in the wars, 
and the projects of peace claimed attention. The open road of the sea at Vera 
Cruz left no protection for the Spanish ships. A surveying party proceeded down 
the coast, guided by a chart that Montezuma had shown them, and found a 
harbor at the mouth of the great river Coatzacoalcos, that offered safe and suitable 
accommodations. A spot was selected for a fortified post, and a detachment of a 
hundred and fifty men, under Velasquez de Leon, was sent to form the colony. 




PARISH CHURCH, OAXACA. 



The route of Velasquez was direct to the southeast, through the canons, down 
through the Valley of Oaxaca, where Cortez obtained a grant of a large tract of 
land, and laid out plantations for the crown. The estate was soon so prosperous 
that its value was more than twenty thousand ounces of gold. The report gives 
detailed descriptions of large and beautiful edifices, and some of them the most 
elaborate specimens of Indian architecture in the Province of Oaxaca. The 
princely domain comprehended more than twenty large towns and villages, and 
23,000 vassals. Of these twenty large towns and villages, Mitla was one, and 
another was Oaxaca. 

On his return to Spain, Cortez was, by a decree of Charles V, dated July 6, 
1529, created Marquis of the Valley of Oaxaca, a title by which he was known in 
those days even more than by his own name. To speak of " the Marquis," meant 



126 

Cortez. The decree granting the estates of the valley was signed in the month 
of July, of that year. 

The route that the little band of Velasquez marched over was down through 
canons where now runs the Mexican Southern Railroad, the mouth of the great 
river Coatzacoalcos, the eastern terminus of the Tehuantepec Railroad. 

Oaxaca was a city, then, before the Spaniards came, and the date of its original 
foundation is as obscure as that of the Ruins of Mitla, though its Spanish occupa- 
tion and building commenced very early in the sixteenth century; therefore 
it is one of the oldest foundations in the land, and one of the prettiest of all its 
cities. The approach of the railroad is down through a lovely valley. The 
towers may be seen, above the trees, while the train is yet some miles away, and 
when it stops it is under the shadow of a high hill that stands up on the east 
side, and between it and the green fields on the other side of the track, stands 
the station. 

Tram-cars lead from the station to the Plaza Mayor, passing first a little plaza 
shaded by great trees, in the midst of which is a fountain Gf running water* then 
through the narrow streets, passing the old Church of La Soledad, and stopping- 
at the plaza. 

The main plaza, or rather plazas, for there are two of them, are very beautiful, 
shaded by immense trees, and filled with flowers; the two join at the north- 
east corner, at the jutting of the Cathedral pavement. The main plaza is 
styled the Plaza de Armas, and in its center is a monument to Juarez, who was a 
native of Oaxaca, as is also General President Porfirio Diaz; the other park is 
called de Leon. 

One of the finest buildings is the Government Palace, facing the Plaza de 
Armas, and it is, indeed, a palace, with its arched portales extending the entire 
length of the square. The churches of Santo Domingo and La Soledad have 
been monasteries and fortresses as well, and more than once have had cannon 
within their walls, that thundered forth in liberty's cause. There is a scientific 
institute, a seminary, an historical museum, and a library, by way of public insti- 
tutions. The houses of commerce and trade would do honor to a larger city, and 
one with older railroad facilities. There are superb baths, with elegant appoint- 
ments, with tiled floors, full-length mirrors, and mantel shelves of onyx. The 
market, within a square of the plaza, is intensely interesting, somewhat like the 
others of Mexico's markets, and yet unlike them, in the tropic dress of the people. 
Every fruit in the world is offered, and flowers at ten cents a bushel; the most 
exquisite roses, in February, as many as you can carry, for a real, that would 
cost a mint of money at home. 

Oaxaca boasts of good hotels, and there 
may be good living while you stay in the 
beautiful city, for its beauties will en- 
tice you to linger, and the hos- ,. — > — 
pitalities of its people make f 

you welcome always. ^^. 






127 






rr, r» . c: m,*... The archives of 

The Ruins of Mltla the Acropolis of 
Athens are written, and the tale of Thebes has 
been told in ancient history; but that history- 
runs not far enough back in the ages to tell of 
the builders of the temples of Mitla, Palenque 
and Uxmal, whence they came, or where de- 
parted. The parchments that bore the buil- 
ders' tracings have mouldered to ashes in the 
/ century of centuries, and the hieroglyphics worn 
to polished stone in the drifting sands of a passed 
eternity, till the tale must forever remain untold. Yet stand, as 
mute monuments, the chiseled columns, that call back the cultured 
civilization of the mighty men of Mitla, and Palenque's people, in 
whose temples we walk, wondering at their magnitude and magnifi- 
cence; calculating, hopelessly, upon the task that modern men would 
tire under, and wondering and wondering how these walls were laid, how their 
mosaics where graven, how these monoliths were raised, and where their quarries 
were; how they were brought hence, how these massive columns where raised,, 
and how the corner stone was put in its place. Afterwards we turn away in dis- 
appointing ignorance of it all, and hopelessly, for there is no history, nor yet a 
legend, to fathom the mystery of it. 

The journey to Mitla is an easy one. It is by rail to Oaxaca; thence, over a 
wide road, hard beaten by much travel, through a valley almost treeless, save 
where the verdure is along the banks of a little rzo, or clustered here and there 
about an hacienda or straggling village, or on the sides of the mountains which 
hedge this valley in, and help to make the journey a pleasant one, with pretty 
pictures of scenic beauty. 

Diligencias or carriages may be obtained at Oaxaca, and they will roll over 
the broad road as easily and smoothly as on a street. The start should be made 
at a convenient hour in the morning, not later than nine o'clock. This will bring 
you to Mitla at four in the afternoon, and the return may be started at ten the 
next morning, thus giving the afternoon and morning sun on the weird pictures 



128 




129 




SOUTH TEMPLE. 



of the ruins. Lunches may be taken from Oaxaca, but this is not absolutely- 
necessary; the fonda at Tlacolula, the little more than half way town, is surpris- 
ingly good, where good coffee, excellent bread, and all the fruits may be obtained, 
and at the hacienda of the imiy atnable, Senor 
Don Felix Quero, at Mitla, there are good 
beds, and an excellent dinner is served, by a 
genial host, who will welcome in cordiality 
and speed the parting guest with good wishes, 
till you will, with the memories of the won- 
ders, the pleasant journey and the good living, 
bless the day you came to Mitla. 

The only rough part of the road is over 
the stony pavements of Oaxaca; after that, 
it is up hill and down dale, but easy rolling all 
the way, with plenty to interest in every mile, from the city gates and the old 
stone bridge just without its boundaries, down to the big trees of Tule. You have 
told your driver that if he drives there is something in it for his own account, and 
he will drive — but there must be a stop at Tule. The village is in a grove of 
trees, and a turn out to the right is through an avenue of tropical verdure that 
all but shuts out the sunlight. It is scarcely half a mile from the main road to 
the big trees. The populace will turn out to greet you, in a kindly way, and, from 
the purest curiosty, follow you about. 

The big tree of Tule is in the church yard of Santa Maria del Tule. A great, 
grandfather of trees, that must have been still a great tree long before the 
Spaniards came, or even while the builders were at the temples of Mitla. It is 
154 feet and 2 inches around the trunk, six feet from the ground, and, as a native 
says, "it takes two looks to see the top." To give a better idea of its immense 
size: if twenty-eight people with outstretched arms, touching each other's finger- 
tips, stood around the trunk, they could barely complete the circuit. 




HALL OF THE MONOLITHS. 



On the east side of this giant of the forest is a wooden tablet, with an inscrip- 
tion signed by Humboldt, the great German traveler, and probably placed there 
by him, or by his order. It has been there so long that the bark has grown over 



130 




FROM THE EAST TEMPLE. 



it, almost completely embodying it in the tree, and partially obscuring the inscrip- 
tion, so that the beginning and ending of the lines cannot be read. In the native 
tongue the tree is an ahuehuete, a species of cypress. Back on the main road 

again, and the little mules go in a gallop across 
the valley, then over the barren foot-hill of 
the mountain, with still a broad even road, 
though at a slower gate till the turn at the 
top, than you may go as fast as you please. 
There is a pretty view from this hill, back to 
one valley of green fields, and forward to 
another. Looking toward the valley to the 
south there is seen what seems to be a vast 
pyramid, in the midst of it, perfect in shape, 
but on closer view it is found to be covered 
with small trees, but it may be a pyramid 
for all that. We are in a land of mysterious 
wonders, and there may be yet undiscovered 
relics of the forgotten ages. You will see the 
white towers of the little villages of the val- 
ley, and the driver will point out the spot 
where lies the larger town of Tlacolula. You 
can take an hour for luncheon and coffee at 
the Hotel Cerqueda at Tlacolula, and, while it is being prepared, you may walk 
across the market place and come to the Plaza of the Casa Municipal, one of 
the prettiest plazas in all Mexico; then come back through the church yard, and 
through the quaint old church of the parish. If you are no+ indeed hard to please, 
you will not regret the luncheon at Tlacolula — still I have not advised to start 
on the journey without a basket. 

The mules have rested, the drivers been refreshed, and it is a whip and a hur- 
rah through the streets of the east side of the town, with a thousand dogs coming 
out to bark at your 
flying wheels; down 
through the cactus- 
hedged lanes, and on 
into the fields again, 
with the greater part 
of the journey behind 
you,andadown-grade 
roadtoMitla. On the 
right is the valley; on 
the left the mountains 
have come closer, till 
there are huge boul- 
ders, of thousands of 
tons, that may have 
rolled down from 
them and lodged on 
the smaller hills, close 
to the roadside; not 
one or a dozen, but 
hundreds of them, 
probably shaken from their places by some violent quaking of the earth. There 
are a few miles of this, then, across a wide, rocky bed of a large river, in the 
rainy season, though only a rivulet now, and up the hill on the other side, and 




INTERIOR, NORTH TEMPLE. 



131 




^ /■ V* 










CORRIDOR OF MOSAICS. 



you are at Mitla— at the hospitable door of Don Felix Quero, to whom it is well, 
as well as courteous, to bring a letter, and one also to the Jefe Politico of Tlaco- 
lula, from the Jefe of Oaxaca, or the owner of the diligencias, or from the agent 

of the Southern R.R., 
although neither is 
absolutely necessary. 
An exchange of cour- 
tesies with Don Felix, 
rooms arranged for, 
the order for dinner 
given, and you are 
ready for the ruins. 
If the journey has 
been well done, with- 
out delay, you should 
reach the ruins while 
the sun is yet high. 
If the journey is a 
hurried one, you may 
have the sun with its 
afternoon shadows, 
and the opposite in 
the morning, before 
you start on the re- 
turn. It is only five minutes walk from the hacienda to the Ruins, through a strag- 
gling village of thatched huts, through narrow streets hedged with giant cacti, 
across a little rio, up a rocky hill, and you stand within the graven walls of a 
temple that may be older than Solomon's. 

1 have called them ternples, and temples they may have been, raised to the 
honor of the gods their builders worshiped, though there is little similarity to the 
teocahs found in the city of Tenochtitlan and the other cities of Anahuac on the 
plains to the north. These low walls differ radically in their construction and 
decoration from the high pyramidal temples 
of the Toltecs, though the absence of arches 
and curved lines in the walls of the temples of 
Mitla would indicate that the builders were 
of the same school, as the Toltecs had no 
arches in their architecture and avoided 
curves and circular decoration. 

If not a temple, then it may have been a 
fortress, a most impregnable one, and unless 
the instruments of war were more formidable 
than those of later generations, or even those 
of the present day, the thick walls would have 
resisted the most persistent assaults. The 
fortress idea further obtains from the fact that 
there are no windows or other openings in the 
walls, and the only entrances open into the 
inner square or plaza; for these reasons the 
fortress idea is in favor, but the people of the 
earlier ages did not need such works of defense. 

The palace of a king or mighty chieftain may have been within these walls — 
the Hall of the Monoliths, a banquet hall, the Corridor of Mosaics, a royal bed 
chamber, and the central court might have been the throne room and audience 




NORTH TEMPLE. 



132 

hall, but I adhere a first impression and say, here was once a great temple. This may 
have bfeen one temple, or four. There are four walled courts facing about an open 
patio, lying exactly at the four points of the compass, with their walls on lines true 
to the needle. Of the southern court, only three of its walls are standing. The east 
wall is in the best condition, next the north, while the south is almost crumbled away. 
The east court has only one of its walls standmg, two columns that are not thrown 
down. Others, and the heavy cornice stones and cap pieces, lie at the base of the wall. 
The north court is in the finest state of preservation, and gives ample evidence 
of the magnificent handiwork of the men of a buried and forgotten race, whose 
civilization is attested in the intricate carvings here; in the shaping of these stones; 
in the lifting them from their quarries, and setting them in their places, as with a 




CORNER OF CHURCHYARD, 
MITLA. 

mason's tact, that all the earth's tremblings have not shaken, nor the warring 
elements effaced their gravings. The north court is built on the same plan with 
the others; its walls are in a most complete state. The entrances of all the courts 
open into the open patio in the center, with no openings at all in the outer walls. 
There are no windows anywhere. 

The heavy cap piece of the entrance to the north court is supported in the center 
by a huge column of hewn stone. Under it leads a passage underground, that 
may extend to the other courts, as there is a subterranean gallery running the 
entire length of the court, east and west, with a short extension due north, and these 
may have existed, also, in the other courts of this great temple. As this court is 
the best preserved, it is also the most extensive part of the ruins. Above the ground, 
extending the entire length, and immediately above the underground gallery, is a 



133 

grand corridor, called the Hall of the Monoliths. Here are six massive columns, 
nearly seven feet in circumference and twelve feet high, ranging down the center 
of the hall. An underground passage leads to a second larger room, whose walls 
also face the compass points. This room is surrounded by four smaller ones, the 
one on the west side being in an almost complete state. The walls are laid in 
the most intricate mosaics, of small pieces and of the most beautiful and unique 
designs, fitted and put together without mortar or cement. 

The ancient races of this land had no arches in their architecture, as is 
evidenced by everything that is left of their meager history, and here, over their 
square-cut doorways, are magnificent monoliths, twelve to eighteen feet long, four 
to six feet in width, and three to five feet in thickness. 

Down the hill, towards the village, in the yard of one of the residences, 
discovered within the year, is what the Indian guide calls "the sepulcher," now 




ALTAR AT TLACOLULA, NEAR THE RUINS OF MITLA. 



used as a corn bin. It is about eight feet long and six feet wide, and below the 
level of the ground. The architecture and cutting of the stone is exactly the 
same as in the larger ruins on the hill. 

Of these ruins no more may be written, truthfully, than I have here. Des- 
criptions may be elaborated, and yet not do them justice. History is painfully 
silent as to their origin. They were as they are to-day when the Spaniards came, 
and CogoUudo, who saw them in the middle of the seventeenth century, speaks 
of them with admiration, as works of "accomplished artists," of whom history 
has preserved no tradition. His visit to these ruins was written of in 1688. 

We are left to wonder what race of men carved these walls and laid their 
intricate fittings. Where did they quarry these huge stones, and how were they 
hewn to their perfect shapes? How did they transport them hence, and how lift 
them to their places, since men enough could not get around one to lift it? What 



134 

edged tools could cut their flinty substance, since only chisels and axes of soft, 
untempered copper have been found? All is deeply, darkly secret against all 
research. We come to them, and go away, knowing as little as before we came, 
and pass on with a silent salute to the artisans of so enlightened a race, whose 
work has made the arrogance of the nineteenth century silent in its wonder and 
admiration. 

These ruins have withstood the ravages of time, perhaps a thousand centuries, 
but here cometh, in this day and generation, a destroyer who can destroy in a 
year what may not be built in a hundred; may do what time and the elements 
have not done in a thousand. The relic hunter comes to take away what the 
sands have not covered up Let him who reads these lines beware. Let him 
look upon these walls, but not lay his hand upon them to take their smallest 
pebble. And if any man shall show you a stone, and say that it came from the 
walls of the Ruins of Mitla, say to him that he is a thief; for that he is, indeed, 
and in truth. 




IN ORIZABA 



Orizaba was a town long before Cortez came, and had a Spanish popu- 
Oriz-o/i-ba lation in 1533, when it had one of the unpronounceable names of 
the Chichmec Indians, who saw "joy in the waters" of the numberless cascades 
hereabouts and called the place "Ahauializapan;" but the Spaniards, not being 
able to call it that, without dental danger, from time to time cut out some of the 
letters and reduced the name to Orizaba. 

With its charming location in a lovely valley, it is just on the first terrace above 
the tierra caliente, where the high hills are close up to the city's borders to throw 
their shadows across the red-tiled roofs, trees and gardens, and domes and towers. 



135 



and to cool the waters of its clear running streams and fountains, and with just a 
glimpse of the snow-capped volcano gleaming in the tropic sun, Orizaba is beauti- 
ful and very charming. 

Horse cars run from the station to the hotels, to the Alameda and the plazas, 
through the city, and extend westward through the very pretty gardens to Ynge- 
nio, the little lake, the church and the mills at Nogales. The rides and drives 
may be made to the cascades that abound in these hills; the first in the Rincon 
Grande, the next and larger Tuxpango, and two others near El Barrio Nuevo and 
at Santa Ana, very attractive excursions, occupying only a few hours; and, 
besides las cataratas niuy bonitas, there are flowers and ferns and orchids to be 
gathered by the wayside. 

There are hills to be climbed for the very fine views and to visit historic spots 
and legendary location. The cross on the summit of the Cerro de Borrego, seen 
from the cars, marks the spot where some French soldiers were slain, and the 
narrow path up the side was their line of march, where a party of Zouaves sur- 
prised and defeated the Mexican forces on the night of July 13, 1862. 

Long centuries ago the healthful climate of Orizaba was a resort for the fever 
refugees from the coast districts, and remains a favorite in these modern days, 
where they come from Vera Cruz and the Gulf coast cities to pass the summer 
days under the shadow of the hills and in the grateful shade of the trees 
beside the clear, cool waters of La Joya Valley. The place was a favorite 
resort of Maximilian. 

In the pretty little Alameda is a monument to Ygnacio de la Llave, one of the 
notable men of the town. The streets and plazas are marvelously clean and the 
white-walled houses gleam brightly in the sun. 

The first parish church, called El Calvario, and later Santa 
Teresa, was built in 1564. The present parish church, San Mig- 
uel, is a remarkably handsome building of stone, completed 
in 1720, after nearly fifty years of building, and the tower 
was not completed till twelve years later. The north chapel 
is called the Corazon de Jesus, and the southern, the Chapel 
of the Rosary. The church contains a magnificently inlaid 
chest of ebony and ivory for the keeping of the sacerdotal 
robes and vestments. The Church of San Jose de Gracia is 
another fine group of chapel, church and convent, but of 
very modern build, having been completed in 1810. The 
pictures and frescos are by a native artist. Barranca — an 
artist not without fame in these parts, and whose son has 
proved himself a worthy heir to his father's brush. Pictures 
by both are to be seen in all the churches of Orizaba. 
About the year 1600 the Church of San Juan de Dios was 
founded. It was permanently injured by an earthquake, 
in i6g6, and a new church was commenced; in 1714, it was 
completed, but the final completion and dedication was 
not until 1763. It was originally a hospital, built by the 
charitable townsfolk, for the fever refugees from the low- 
lands; the worthy charity originated by Don Juan Ramon, 
Don Pedro Mexia, and Don Sebastian Maldonado, exists 
to this day, but not as the original hospital. That is long 
since in ruins. The healthfulness of Orizaba is perfect, and 
a more charming little city is not to be found anywhere. Orizaba is in the State of 
Vera Cruz, on the line of the Mexican Railway, 181 miles from the City of Mexico, 
and, although only eighty-two miles from the sea,. is 4832 feet above it. The popu- 
lation is 16,000; horse cars from the station and to all parks and points of interest. 




136 



PachUCa Pa-chuca is a windy city. The winds blow down from the 
Pa-e/ieu-ka mountains, and up from the valleys, and it seems, sometimes, as 
if they came from both at once, blowing hot and cold, so that it is not essentially 
a resort town, except, it may be, for miners, for here are some of the richest mines 
in all this country. There are nearly three hundred mines in and about the city 
and suburbs, and in the near-by districts of Regla and the Real del Monte. The 
mines are said to have been discovered by a poor shepherd, nearly four hundred 
years ago. They have been worked constantly ever since, yielding fabulous sums 
every year, till it is impossible to say what the total has been, one mine alone, 
Trinidad of old, having yielded nearly $50,000,000 in ten years; and the others, 
Rosario, Candado and Xacal have made many fortunes. The old "patio 
process," or amalgamating process, was first used at Pachuca. The principal 
modern mines are Rosario, Santa Gertrudis, Cayetano and the Dolores, but no 
accurate estimate can be put on the amount of treasure that has been taken out 
of their depths. 

The streets are narrow and necessarily very crooked, as they wind up and 
down the steep hillsides, and are, withal, very picturesque. Among the notable 
buildings is the Caja, a fine structure, with great towers above, built in 1670, by 
the Marquis de Mancera, Don Sebastian de Toledo, as a treasure-house for the 

Crown, when the government had the exclusive 
distribution of quicksilver for use in extracting 
the silver. The Casa Colorada was built by the 
Conde de Regla, as a public granary. This Conde 
also built the aqueduct of the water supply. 

The Church of San Francisco was founded in 
1596, and the present church completed in 1660. 
In the adjacent chapel of Tercer Orden are interred 
the bones of the good Fray Cristobal de la Cruz. 
What is now the school of mines and mining, was 
once a college of the missionaries. 

The great feast of San Francisco extends irom 
September 30 to October 8, when the city is given 
over to bull-fighting, cock-fights and a general good 
time, after the fashion of the people. Further up in 
- the mountains is the very curious Real del Monte, 
reached from Pachuca, over a very fine road. The town is in the very heart of 
the mountains, picturesque to a degree in its combination of English houses, with 
peaked roofs and chimneys, for it is cold here sometimes, and the flat-topped 
houses of Mexico. The great house of the town is the Maestranza, containing the 
offices, storehouses and machine-shops of the Cayetano mine. 

In the year 1739, Don Pedro Jose Romero de Terreros, a great miner of his 
day, and an operator of Oueretaro, was en route for his home in Spain. He came 
to Pachuca; the richness~of the prospect was too much for him; he stopped here 
and spent his fortune, but remained by his venture till he had made another and 
larger fortune. 

The output, from 1762 to 1781, being over Si2,ooo,ooo, and in 1818 the total 
reached the enormous figure of $30,000,000. An English company came into 
possession in 1824, with shares at a par value of i^ioo, that in a year were sold 
at £16,000, but at the end was a complete failure. The mines are now operated 
with satisfactory results. 

Pachucha is reached by a branch of the Mexican Central Railway from Tula; 
is on the main line of the Hidalgo Railroad; on branches of both the Interoceanic 
and Mexican Railways, distant from the city 84 miles. The altitude is 8,000 feet 
above the sea. The population is 20,000. 




137 

PatZCUarO ^^ ever you should come to Patzcuaro and see its quaint and 
Patz-Kiuaro curious Streets, narrow and crooked, with shrines and saints 

set in the walls at every zig-zag corner; with its tree-covered plaza, where, on the 
market night, the fishwomen sit beside little oil-wood fires and the native comes 
to buy the fish, and the copper and earthen pots to cook them in. If you should 
ever come to Patzcuaro, make the climb to Los Balcones and look out over the 
valley, with its scores of towns, and the lake, with its islands rising out of the clear 




THE START FOR TZINTZUNTZAN. 



waters in cone-like peaks, you will say that the ancient Tarascan kings were 
correct when they called the city "Patzcuaro," as they did when they 
were aweary of the pomp and circumstance of state, and would hie away 
to Patzcuaro. I say hie away, because they took the high ground of medi- 
cal ethics, and Patzcuaro, that an exalted and a pure air are the best recupera- 
tives for overworked and exhausted kings, so they left Tzintzuntzan and 
hied to Patzcuaro in their royal canoes, their ships of state. It was a place of 
delights, on those hills to the southward of the lake, and the city that grew under 
royal patronage was called Patzcuaro, which, in the Tarascan tongue, means 
"place of pleasure." 

Between the station and the town is about a league, over a winding road, hard 
beaten with much travel up and down the long steep hill. The mode of trans- 
portation is the diligencia of the old Mexican type, and its creaking leathers only 
quicken the anticipation, but not the pace of the mules. The wayfarers met or 
overtaken, and one meets more than are overtaken, are on foot or on the backs of 
burros, taking the product of the field or the yield of the lake from the valley to 
the markets of the town, or returning with the proceeds and purchases, so that 
the speed — speed is not exactly the word here — of the coach is not objected to; 
and the view gradually grows by inches as it were, till the ride is one of the pleas- 
ures of Patzcuaro. 

When one comes to the top of the hill there is not time to enjoy the panorama 
spread out in the valley where the lake is, and then there is so much right at the 
wheels that is new and novel to claim attention. The mules, finding the pulling 
easier than on the incline of the hill, trot along at a brisker rate and are soon at 
the hotel — not a pleasing prospect from the facade, but the patio with its flowers 
and the gallery all around are reassuring; the rooms are not so inviting, but 
the clean newly-made-up beds are satisfying, so that it does not matter if there 
are no carpets and only a tiled floor, one is only to stay there when one can go 
nowhere else, and while one does stay there, it is to sleep — to sleep, perhaps to 
dream of castles in Spain, and wake to find a no less pleasing reality in a beautiful 
land, whose civilization is older and whose ruins and legends as interesting. 

The plaza of Patzcuaro is a pretty one, and in the center of it is a beautiful 
pagoda, where the band plays in the evening. Over the flowers and fountains, 
which bloom and play from January to January, are the grandest of grand old 



138 

trees that may have sheltered the Tarascan potentates when they came to this 
place of pleasure, and the same perennial verdure is there in the leaves. 

A market night in Patzcuaro is such as could be nowhere else in the world. 
Scores and scores of little fires light the scene. By each fire sits a woman, a man 
or a boy, with their wares around them; the fruits, vegetables and tish are in little 
stacks on mats on the ground. Everythmg is sold at so much per stack in a Mex- 
ican market, and if you don't like the size of it, you can go where the stacks are 
larger, or the prices smaller; some sell fish, others fruit of every kind that ripens 
under a tropic sun; the stock in trade of another is peppers and potatoes, toma- 
toes and tamales; another offers earthen vessels and some of copper, for house- 
hold uses, and there are flowers in abundance at almost every stand — or, more 
properly, at every sitting, as the venders all sit on the ground surrounded by 
their stock in trade. 

The portales — columned archways — extend over the sidewalk on the four sides 
of the plaza in front of the stores where they sell zerapes and rebosos, which 
answer the purpose of overcoats for the men, and shawls and headgear 
for the women. 

A delightful morning walk is through some narrow, crooked streets where, in 
the niches in the walls along, are the fourteen stations of the Cross in the street 
that leads to the Hill and Church of Calvary. 

Los Balcones is a stone parapet or balcony in front of the Church of El Cal- 
vario, where there are several stone benches on the edge of a precipice, a thousand 
feet above the plain where the lake is. When the sun is just peeping over the 
eastern peaks of the distant Sierras, tingeing the sky from blue to gold and putting 
on a mellow light, it is the very prettiest picture. The valley and the lake spread 
out, with the forty-three towns of the plain, and the islands rising from the blue 
waters of the lake like the peaked and castled ones in Como, in Italy, makes a 
picture of surpassing beauty and fascination. 

The plaza, in the morning, is not so weirdly picturesque as when the oil-wood 
fire-light blazed flickeringly, but as fascinating. The old churches, with their 
crude, quaint pictures and their relics and offerings are to be looked over, and 
another visit to Los Balcones is to be made to see the setting of the sun that was 







\ ^klbt3t^ 



ON LAKE PATZCUARO. 
THE VOYAGE TO TZINTZUNTZAN. 




SO bright in its rising. After an early breakfast of the most luscious fruits and 
the delicious coffee from the plantations of Urud.pam near by, and some fish fresh 
from the lake, it is time to start for Tzintzuntzan. Canoes should be arranged for 
and they will be waiting — curious canoes, long and wide, with high projecting 
prow and stern, hewn from great trees, each one a solid piece. The oarsmen 
are Indians, with ladle-looking paddles with long handles, which are industriously 
plied, and you are soon on your way up the lake. 



139 

The slow progress could not be monotonous on Lake Patzcuaro; there is 
that to see here that could not be seen anywhere else. The islands look like the 
peaks of submerged mountains with just the tops above the water. On the steep 
sides are some quaint little houses, and rising above the trees, almost at the top, 
gleams the white tower of a church, whose little bell sends forth a sonorous peal 
over the water. The picture is a pretty one, and has its double, as distinctly out- 
lined as the original, in the marvelously clear water, and every single canoe is 
two, coming together at the keel, as the reflection makes it look. The fishermen 
are busy everywhere; their canoes dot the lake for miles around. They are long 
fiat-bottomed boats, with a piece of cotton cloth stretched on hoops for a shelter, 
not unlike the cover of a country wagon. The fishermen stand in the bow with a 
long pole, which has a net on the end. This is dipped in the water at random, 
and with more or less success. The canoes hug the eastern shore, and it is not 
a long row — not more than three hours — to Tzintzuntzan, where the famous Titian 
is. Tzintzuntzan was once a great city, and the capital of the Tarascan kings; 
now, only a straggling village with a group of ruined churches. 

Your carefully studied salutation in Spanish, a handful of cigars and a bottle of 
wine, will make the padre and you the best of friends. 

He will know, even before you ask him, that you want to see the picture, and will 
open the high arched door of carved wood which leads to 2. patio or open court. 

A little surpliced Indian boy brings a lighted candle. The padre leads the 
way, and a wondering little procession follows through a dark corridor that leads 
up to another massive door, barred and chained and padlocked. 

You are back in ancient feudal days, in some old castle opened to you. The 
clanking chains and rusty, creaking hinges are on your prison doors; but the 
boy holds the tallow dip high, and shows the padre's kindly face. You are only 
at Tzintzuntzan, in search of a Titian. 

The door opens into an inner room as dark as night. The padre unfastens 
a grated window, and a flood of golden sunlight comes through, and falls full 
upon the picture. 

Such coloring, such composition, such feeling, could only come from a master- 
hand. Whose? Tradition says Titian, and presented by Philip II. of Spain. 
Eminent men, authors and artists agree. The padre closes the window and the 
door, locks and chains them again; the boy holds up his flickering torch, 
and you go out, leaving the padre and his treasures as a dream too unreal to be 
true. An effort has been made to buy the painting, and $50,000 was offered by 
the Bishop of Mexico, but the faithful, devoted Indians refuse, and the price that 
bought the " Angelus " would be no temptation. Yet the " Entombment " is some 
hundreds of years older, is the work of an old master, and is big enough (the 
figures are all life size) to make a hundred of the "Angelus;" and yet its price 
would not buy it, the Indians refusing absolutely to allow the picture to be 
taken away. 

In the Casa Municipal of the village is a painting of the Calzontzin Sinzicha 
receiving Christianity. Some attempts at excavating were made in 1855, but the 
Indians were superstitious and quietly filled up the trenches as fast as they were dug. 

The See of Michoacan was removed from Tzintzuntzan to Patzcuaro, and the 
building of a great Cathedral was commenced, under a bull of Pope Julian III., 
published July 8, 1550. But only a part of the church was finished, since the 
See was removed again to Morelia, and it is now used as the parish church. It will 
hold 3,000 people. The bones of the good Bishop Quiroga, in wrappings of silk, 
are preserved in the church, on the left of the main entrance. Here also is an 
image of Nuestra Senora de la Salud, dedicated by Bishop Quiroga. Connected 
with this church there was, in ancient days, a very rich nunnery. There is an 
altar over the spring which supplies the city with the water which gushed forth 



140 




141 

from the rock struck by the staff of Bishop Ouiroga. The staff is also shown 
in the Cathedral at Morelia. The Church of San Agustin was established in 1576, 
San Juan de Dios in 1650. The other churches are San Francisco and Guada- 
lupe. About a mile eastward of Patzcuaro is the chapel of Humilladero, erected 
on the spot where the Indians received the Spaniards with overtures of peace, 
which were hardly reciprocated by them. 

Of the islands of Lake Patzcuaro there are three, Xanicho, Xardcuaro arid 
Pacanda, that are populated by a community of fishermen. Xanicho is the 
largest, with a population of 1,200, and a quaint little church, Geronimo, and a 
school for boys and girls. 

Near Tzintzuntzan is the little town of Iguatzio, where there is a pyramid, from 
which idols, ornaments and arms have been taken, and under which are subterra- 
nean passages, with supports of timber, which tradition says communicated with 
those of Tzintzuntzan, discovered in 1855. These and the paved road were in 
existence when the Spaniards came. 

The cruel acts of Nino de Guzman greatly retarded the peaceful work of the 
emissaries of Cortez, Guzman's cruelties culminating in the burning of the Cal- 
zontzin Sinzicha to extort the secret of supposed treasure. After the recall of 
Guzman to Spain came Vasco de Quiroga, a lawyer, afterwards the good bishop, 
who did much to repair the cruel doings, and through him came about the good 
works of peace, and the frightened people returned to their homes and were 
taught to make copper ware and to work in other metals, as well as the other arts 
of peace. The good effect of his teachings are felt in this region to this day, 
and his name is much venerated. He died at Urudpam in 1565, March 14, at the 
age of g6 years. 

The city of Michoacan, which included Tzintzuntzan and Patzcuaro, was 
founded February 28, 1534, by a Royal Order of Charles V., but the seat of the See 
was finally to be at Morelia, where it now is. 

Patzcuaro is on the western division of the Mexican National Railroad, in the 
State of Michoacan, 274 miles from the City of Mexico. The altitude is 6,787 
feet; population, 15,000. 

Puebia ^^ ^^ called the City of the Angels, but Puebla is a city of tiles. 
Poo-cMah Tiles are used everywhere, from the domes of the many churches 
of the valley to their' walls and floors; glazed tiles of many colors adorn the 
exterior and interior walls of residences, and in varied hues on the towers they 
glisten in the sun. One house in the Calle de Mercaderes has its fa9ade entirely 
of tiles; and in the Church of Nuestra Senora de la Luz, and the old convent of 
Santa Rosa, are some very beautiful mosaics of tiles. Looking down from the 
surrounding hills, or in the approach across the plain, the tiled towers present a 
picturesque effect. 

The history of Puebla is romantic, and full of legends. The original name of 
the city was Puebla de los Angeles, from the vision that led to its foundingx»n this 
site, or rather, two visions. One legend goes on to tell of the marshalling, in 
mighty hosts, of the angels above the place where the city now stands. The 
other story is, that the good Fray Julian Garces, desirous of founding a halting- 
place between the coast and the capital, set about to find a site for his city, and 
one night, as he rested from his labors, he dreamed a dream, and in it saw a 
beautiful plain, on the slope of the great volcanoes, with two little hills about a 
league between; there were springs in the plain, and two rivers of abundant 
waters, with living trees and flowers. While he looked upon this, two angels 
appeared, with rod and chain, and measured streets and squares. After this 
remarkable dream, the Bishop awoke and immediately set out. Guided by the 
same power that showed the vision, says the chronicler, he soon came to the plain 
of his dream, saying " Here hath the Lord, through his angels, shown me the site 



142 





143 

of the city, and to His glory it shall be made." And thus came the name Puebla 
de los Angeles. But more substantial history relates that some fifty families of 
Spaniards, from Tlaxcala, came to this valley, and, on the i6th of April, 1532, 
commenced the building of houses of the city that for more than three hundred and 
fifty years has borne the name derived from the vision, till it was officially changed 
to Puebla Zaragoza, in honor of the hero of the battle of the 5th of May, 1862. 

Puebla has seen much of the vicissitudes of war, and, next to the capital, has 
suffered most. It was captured by Yturbide, August 2, 1821 ; occupied by General 
Scott, May 25, 1847; was the scene of Zaragoza's victory. May 5, 1862; recaptured 
by the French on the 17th of the same month, and in turn taken from them four 
years later, April 2, 1867, by General Porfirio Diaz. 

Northeast of the city, within the suburbs, is the hill and fort of Guadalupe, 
named for the church that was there in the earlier days. Here was the battle 
ground of the 5th of May, 1862, when General Zaragoza, with 2000 men, repulsed 
the 6000 French soldiers, under de Lorencez, and, in 1867, April 2, General 
Porfirio Diaz recaptured the forts and made prisoners the entire French garrison 
of Puebla. The ruins of the church were used for fortifications, and, with the 
stone, the fort was built, though the church was not completely de- 
molished. The crypt was used as a magazine, and the other parts 
put to baser uses. On a slightly lower hill, called Loreto, about 
half a mile north, is the fort of Cinco de Mayo, and within its 
walls the little chapel of Loreto. The view from the hill of 
Guadalupe is one of extreme beauty. 

The city is spread out on the plain in the foreground. 
To the eastward the great volcanoes of Popocatepetl and 
Ixtaccihuatl; to the north is the mighty Malintzi, and 
to the east old Orizaba; the lesser hills are Tecolote on 
the left, and the Cerro del Conde; to the right Amaluca, 
near by the hill and fort of Loreto; to the left, the Cerro 
San Juan, with its arched hacienda, and beyond it the 
Pyramid of Cholula. There are churches, churches, 
everywhere, and in all directions, with their walls and 
domes of all the colors: San Agustin is white; San 
Jose, red; Santo Domingo, white; Concepcion, brown; 
Santa Teresa, yellow; San Cristobal, red; Carmen, 
yellow; San Angel de Analco, red; Compania, blue; 
Soledad, white; San Francisco, grey; while towering 

above all is the brownish-grey of the Cathedral, and, far away, the white towers' 
of Los Remedios, on the top of Cholula's pyramid. There is not a picture like 
it in many days' travel, and there may not be in all the world. 

It is not a long walk to this hill of Guadalupe, a trifle tiresome, but very 
pleasant, if you take your time. The way is through the Plazuela de San Fran- 
cisco, out by the old Plaza de Toros, across the stone bridge over the Atoyac, 
through the little paseo, and by the group of churches of Calvario San Juan del Rio 
and Piadosas, and over the old causeway where marched the processions in olden 
times; this is the way to Guadalupe. 

The streets of Puebla are wide, as streets go in Mexico, and are wonderfully 
clean, sloping from curb to center, where, in some of them, are running streams, 
while others are flooded for sanitary purposes. The parks and plazas are pretty, 
indeed, with their trees, and flowers and fountains. The markets are more 
metropolitan than Mexican, though many curious articles are offered in the 
stalls. Mats and baskets of colored straw, the crude crockery of Puebla manu- 
facture, clay figures and Indian carvings of onyx. The buildings are more 
pretentious than in the average city of this country, though built in purely 




144 

Mexican style. They are two and three stories high. There are two theatres and 
two bull-rings, and the bull-fights of Puebla are notable for their excellence, if 
that word may be used in connection with the sport. 

The public buildings are not so ambitious as might be expected in so fine a 
city. The legislative sessions are in the old Alhondiga, on the Plaza Mayor, and 
the Courts are in the old Colegio de San Pantaleon; but the penitentiary is one 
of the finest in the land. There is a State College, with libraries of nearly 
40,000 volumes; a Normal School, and other educational insti- 
tutions, and an Academy of Fine Arts; also, several hospitals. 
The Cathedral of Puebla rivals the great Cathedral of the 
City of Mexico, and, except in point of size, is regarded by 
many as the finer church. Bishop Zumarraga laid the corner 
stone of the first church, in 1532, and of the first Cathedral 
m 1536, but the present building was not begun until a hun- 
dred years later; it was consecrated April 18, 1649. The loca- 
tion is on a stone terrace, to the south of the Plaza Mayor. 
The church is surrounded by an iron railing, placed in 
"" 1886-87. This, with a monument, is in memory of Pius IX. 
Between the two tall towers of the west front is the main 
doorway, with the date above, 1664, marking the completion 
FUNERAL PROCESSION, of thjg portion of the building. The building is 323 feet long 
and loi feet wide, with a height on the inside of more than eighty feet, the wh9le 
surmounted by a splendid dome. The old tower, which alone cost $100,000, con- 
tams eighteen bells, the largest of which weighs nearly 20,000 pounds. The great 
choir, built of stone, is in the center of the nave, enclosed in wrought-iron gratings, 
made in 1697. The carvings of the organ are superb, in native woods, as are the 
doors of the entrance-ways. The intricate marquety work is a revelation. On 
the door that leads to the Bishop's seat is an inlaid picture of St. Peter, and in 
the shrine above is preserved a thorn from the crown of Christ. 

The great altar was commenced in 1789, and completed in 1819, at a cost of 
$110,000. It is constructed of every conceivable marble of Mexico, and the 
exquisite onyx of Puebla, the work of a native artist, Manuel Tolsa. Beneath the 
altar is the tomb of the Bishops, this also laid in beautiful slabs of onyx. 

The chapels are the Capilla de los Reyes, with a shrine and image of Nuestra 
Sefiora de la Difensa, to whom is attributed many miracles; the Capilla de 
San Jose contains a fine figure of that saint, and an ivory crucifix, a present to 
Bishop Vasquez by Gregory XVI.; the Bishop's tomb is in front of the chapel. 
The Capilla de los Relicarios has an altar of richly carved wood, and a silver urn, 
containing the ashes of San Sebastian de Aparicio, also the busts of other saints, 
with relics of their bones carried, under glass, on their breasts. Here are scores 
of boxes, containing relics innumerable. 

In the sacristy are many pictures, set in golden, carved frames; the tables 
have slabs of richest onyx, and the vestment chests are handsomely carved. 

Among the oortraits in the Cathedral are those of the various Bishops of 
Puebla, of Gregory XVIII., Charles V., Fray Julian Garces, first Bishop of Puebla, 
Leo X; in the sacristy are some rich tapestries of Flanders, presented 
by Charles V. Among the other pictures are the Fourteen Stations of the Cross, 
the Holy Sacrament, the Assumption, the Apparition of Nuestra Senora de la 
Merced to San Raymundo de Penafort, a Virgin and Child, by Ibarra, a Dolores 
de Acazingo, the Triumph of Mary, and a Last Supper, with many others. 

The parish church adjoins the Cathedral, where there are other fine pictures, 
and a beautiful baptismal font of onyx. 

The Church of San Francisco is next to the Cathedral in point of interest and 
beauty. Founded in 1532, on the hill above the Atoyac, the present church was 



145 



begun in 1667. The very high tower is built of a bluish-grey stone, beautifully 
carved, and laid in panels of tiles. The old convent of this church is now 
used as a military hospital. The flat arched roof, the story says, was not 
trusted by the architect; he feared to remove the supporting timbers, and left 
it to the priests to do. They were afraid to send laborers to take them out, and 
it was concluded to burn them out. It was done; the arch remained intact, 
and is to-day, after more than two hundred years. In this church is a little image, 
carved in wood, of Nuestra Senora de los Remedios, called La Conquistadora. 
It is only about eight inches high, with a little child in its arms. This was 
presented by Cortez to Axotecatl Cocomitzin, the Tlaxcalan chief, in token of his 
friendship for the ally. 

Here also is the chapel of San Sebastian de Aparicio, who first introduced 
wheeled carts and oxen into Mexico, and who drove an ox-cart between Vera Cruz 
and the' city, and later, in 1542, on the roads north to Zacatecas. The Fray's 
bones were formerly kept in this chapel, until they were removed to the Cathedral 
where they now are. There is a most interesting old panteon in connection with 
the church. La Compahia was founded April 15, 1587; the present church com- 
pleted in i6go. There are two towers and a tiled dome. San Cristobal was 
founded more than three hundred years ago. The pulpit is of onyx. This is one 
of the few Mexican churches with seats, with the unusual feature, also, of having 
separate seats for men and women. 

Of the other churches, San Antonio contains a relic of the skin of one of the 
saints; Nuestra Senora de la Luz is particularly noted for its beautiful tile work; 
Santa Clara possesses a thorn from the crown of Christ; San Jose is the saint 
who protects Puebla from the lightning, an image of whom is in his church, 
carved from a tree destroyed by lightning; La Soledad is one of the finest of the 
forty-six churches of Puebla, but to write their history, or even record their 
legends, would make many volumes. 

The Pyramid of Cholula '^,^?./^f ^, °^ the building of the Pyramid 

cho-too-ia of Cholula IS unkuown. Lven before the 

Aztecs came to the plain of Cholula, the great pyramid was there in the midst, 

and the people told them the legend of 



it, that it was built by a race of giants 
descended from the two survivors of a 
great deluge that overspread the land, 
and whose intent it was to raise its 
heights to heaven, but they incurred 
the displeasure of the gods, who sent 
forth fires and destroyed them. This 
indeed is the story that is coincident 
with the Chaldean and Hebrew ac- 
counts of the Deluge and the Tower 
of Babel, of which there is so much in 
the traditions of these people that is 
similar to the tales of the Bible. On 
the summit stood the sumptuous tem- 
ple of the mystic deity, Quetzalcoatl, 
the "god of the air," whose image was there, under its pinnacled towers, as the 
chronicler says, with ebon features, wearing a mitre on his head, waving with 
plumes of fire; a resplendent collar of gold was about the neck; pendants of mo- 
saic turquoise in his ears; a jeweled scepter in one hand, and a curiously painted 
shield, emblem of his reign over the winds, in the other. Cholula was, in those 
ancient days, what Rome is to-day. Pilgrims came from hundreds of miles — as do 
the Mohammedans to Mecca — to bow down before the temple of Quetzacoatl, in 




CHURCH DOME, PYRAMID OF CHOLULA. 



146 



the holy city of Anahuac. Cortez declared that he counted four hundred towers 
in the city of Cholula, yet no temple had more than two, and some only one. High 
above the rest rose the great temple on the pyramid, with its never-dying fires 
spreading their radiance over the capital, proclaiming the return of the deity to 
resume hts rule over the land. Such was the pyramid and city as the Spaniards saw 
it at their coming, and the people they found there could tell little else of its history 
than is written here. The temple was thrown down as prorrtptly as was the custom 
of the conquerors, and aChristian church placed in its stead, that standsto this day. 

The pyramid has the appearance of a natural hill, as its sides are overgrown 
with trees and bushes, which is but an evidence of its great antiquity, as the 
interior is composed of alternate layers of sun-dried brick, clay and limestone. 
The height is 177 feet above the plain. The four sides face the cardinal pomts, 
and are laid in terraces that now are overgrown with shrubs and flowers. The 
base lines are more than a thousand feet on each side, or twice as long as the 
great Cheops; or, to give 
a better idea of its size, 
is to say that it covers 
twenty acres of the 
plain. A paved road 
leads up the steep west 
side, with steps of hewn 
stone, to the arch and 
cross of the entrance- 
way to the Church of 
Nuestra Senora de los 
Remedios, on the very 
top. From the balcon- 
ies the view of the valley 
and surrounding moun- 
tains, the many church- 
es, with their glazed tile 
towers, and the towns 
and villages of the 
plain, is superb. 

The town of Cholula 
has dwindled, from the 
great capital of a 
mighty nation, to less 
than 5000 people. The 
market place, "Tianquiz," is still called by its ancient name. Near the plaza is 
the ruins of an abandoned monastery of San Francisco, founded m 1529. The 
church on this spot, called San Gabriel, was founded in 1604; it has a very 
handsome altar of expensive adornment. Near by and adjoining the walls, is the 
Royal Chapel and Tercer Orden, whose roof of domes is supported by sixty-four 
round columns. This church was built in 1608, for overflow meetings. There are 
twenty-seven other churches in Cholula, and from the pyramid the towers of 
thirty more can be counted. 

The ride on the horse cars across the Atoyac Valley, from Puebla to Cholula, 
is a delightful one, passing out of the city of Puebla through the arch of the 
Garita de Mexico. The track runs along the highway, between it and an arched 
aqueduct. The hacienda of San Juan is the arched stone building on the crest 
of a hill to the left. The way is across a stone bridge, with arched entrances, 
over the Atoyac River, passing churches and haciendas in numbers, on both sides, 
with something to interest in every one of the eight miles. 




ALTAR OF THE CHURCH OF THE PYRAMID OF CHOLULA. 



147 

QueretarO Queretaro occupies a prominent place in Mexico's history. 
Kay-)-et-aro It was an Otomite town before the Spaniards came, and was 

made a city as early as 1655, by a decree of Philip IV., of Spain. Nearly every 
Mexican town has its legend; that of Queretaro is, that an Otomite chief, Fernando 
de Tapia by name, undertook to Christianize the town by fighting, which seems 
to have been the earlier method. He came from Xilotepec and Tula, to challenge 
the people of Queretaro to what might be called a "fair fist and skull" fight, the 
citizens to be baptized or not as they were beaten or victorious. But it was not to 
be a fair fight, after all, for while the performance was proceeding, a dark cloud 
came up, and the blessed Santiago was seen in the heavens with a fiery cross.^ 
This ended the "mill," the people of Queretaro were baptized, and in commem- 
oration of the miracle, set up a stone cross, on a site now occupied by the church 
of Santa Cruz, which is shown to prove the aforesaid. 

As in the case of many Mexican towns, this one derives its name from an 
Indian word meaning a game of ball, or from "querenda," a rocky peak. 

Queretaro was the place of the ratification of the treaty of peace between the 
United States and Mexico, in 1848, and figured, more or less, in the later wars and 
revolutions, till the town is full of warlike reminiscence. Maximilian's last stand 
was made here, and his surrender on the 19th of May, 1867. 

The story of "poor Carlotta" is one of the saddest, and had its saddest feature 
at Queretaro, where her beloved, but unfortunate, husband met his death. Maxi- 
milian was executed on the Cerro de las Campanas, just in the northern limits of 
the city, June 19, 1867, and with him the Generals, Miramon and Mejia. The 
place of execution is marked by three little crosses of stone. The two generals 
fell at the first volley, but it required a second firing before the Emperor was dead. 
He had requested that he might be shot in the body, that his mother might look 
on his face. He had been led to believe that "poor Carlotta" was dead, a story 
of consolation, in pity given. The body was taken to an old convent of the Capu- 
chins, but subsequently to Austria and buried at Miramar. A martyr cruelly 
betrayed by the French Emperor, and seemingly deserted by all the world except 
a devoted wife, who pleaded for succor in vain to the Pope of Rome. The Gov- 
ernment of the United Slates protested against the execution, although an impe- 
rial power on this continent is inimical to its doctrines, but the protest was unheeded. 
The Princess Salm-Salm, remembered in our own war times, rode 160 miles to 
San Luis Potosi, and on her knees begged President Juarez to spare the captive, 
but all unavailing, and Maximilian died a martyr to a political principle. 

The court-martial was convened in the Yturbide Theatre, June 14, 1867, at ro.oo 
a. m., and at 10.00 p. m. on the 15th the sentence of death was pronounced, and at 
once approved by General Escobedo, who ordered the execution to take place the 
next day, but a telegram irom Juarez, at San Luis Potosi, postponed the execu- 
tion till the 19th. The theatre remains now as then. In the State Capitol are 
shown the table on which the death warrant was signed, the wooden stools on 
which the prisoners sat during the trial, and the coffin of Maximilian. The con- 
vent of the Capuchins is now a dwelling, but its owner will show the room in 
which the prisoners were confined. In the pretty little plaza was a favorite 
promenade of the Emperor Maximilian during the siege which ended so disas- 
trously for him. The fact that the Emperor took his evening walks in the plaza 
became known to the besieging army, and their cannon were aimed so as to drop 
the shot in the right place. Maximilian escaped, but the fountain, near which he 
sat one day, was struck by a cannon ball and the stone sent flying in all directions. 

The cathedral, formerly the Church of San Francisco, built in 1698, has some 
very beautiful decorations in sculpture, carvings and paintings. Near by is the 
Chapel of San Loreto. Santa Clara, founded by a rich Indian, the Cacique Diego 
de Tapia, son of the introductor of Christianity in the town, San Felipe, Santo 



148 



Domingo, San Antonio, San Agustin, Carmen, Merced, Santa Teresa, Santa 
Rosa, and Santa Cruz, containing the stone cross that was set up and worshiped 
by the Indians, on their conversion on the day of Santiago, nearly 400 years ago, 
are among the many churches, whose towers are seen from the cars. At the vil- 
lage of San Francisco is the church, or rather shrine, of Nuestra Senora del 
Pueblito, containing a curious image of the Virgin, which at intervals weeps and 
sometimes assumes a countenance anything but pleasant, much to the disquiet of 
the Indians, and who, for the time being, are put on their good behavior, at least 
till the clouds roll by. 

The city of Queretaro lies to the eastward of the track, and a good view of the 
city may be seen from passing trains. Just after leaving the city, going south, 
the track passes under the aqueduct of the city's water supply, which is nearly 
■five miles long. The tallest arch is nearly a hundred feet high. The water 
comes from the mountains, passing through a tunnel, over the aqueduct, and is 
distributed through the city by fountains. One of the prettiest is in the main 
plaza, amid a very bower of palms and tropical trees; and, by the way, you that 




&v.;.' ■■ ■ ^^W 



CORNER OF THE MARKET PLACE, QUERETARO. 

have been looking for palm trees all along may see the first at Queretaro. The 
climate is very delightful. Year in and year out it is one succession of early 
summer days. 

Queretaro is the place of opals. The mines are in all the region round about. 
The opal and Queretaro are synonymous only from the fact that both are found in 



149 



the same locality, and not that the town is considered an unlucky one. In fact, 
the citizens are singularly prosperous, and visitors are lucky to an average, until 
they buy an opal; and then the only ill luck that follows is in paying too high, or 
buying a stone that has a flaw. 

Some of the citizens meet all trains with a supply of opals, and with rnore or 
less luck in their disposition, as the passenger is more or less inexperienced. 
Others of the inhabitants also make connections with the fast express trains of 
the Central, with a view of catching a passenger with a stop-over ticket, and show 
him or her, or both, the town. 

Queretaro is the capital of the State of Queretaro, and is one of the most 
important cities of Central Mexico, being a distributing point and a manufacturing 
centre. The principal industries are the manufacture of cotton goods, leather 
and leather wares, and sugar. The Hercules cotton factory is one of the largest 
in the country; it employs several hundred operatives, taken from the native 
population. The mill uses both steam and water power; there is a 200 horse- 
power engine and an immense water-wheel nearly fifty feet in diameter. The 
mill has a beautiful location, just in the eastern suburb of the city, surrounded by 
tropical gardens of fruits and flowers, and is one of the objects of interest in a 
visit to Queretaro. 

Horse cars run from the station to the plaza, and beyond to the Hercules 
mills and the suburbs. The population is 50,000; altitude 5963 feet; distance 
from the City of Mexico, 153 miles. 

Saltillo T^^t picturesque garment, the zerape, so much affected by the 
Sai-ieei-yo Mexican, and which does overcoat duty for a large contingent not 
possessed of the wherewith to buy a sobre todo of more modern 
fashion, has its chief point of manufacture at Saltillo; at least 
those that have artistic coloring, and whose textile is the rnost 
delicately woven, with the softest finish, are native to that city, 
and to possess one from the hand looms of that city was to own 
the very best. The zerape of to-day is machine woven, and 
though some are made by hand, they are not the things of 
beauty they were in times past, and one of ancient date is really 
a joy forever. An old Mexican explained to me the difference 
in colors then and now, and the cause of the change. He 
said that in the old days the designs of decorative colors 
were taken from the plumage of the birds and from the ■ , , . 
flowers of the land, so there were softer tints where natural 
beauty blended them, than in these modern days, when the ' 
untutored eye is caught by the flaring colors of cheap tints and 
gaudy combinations of the more civilized but less tasteful for- 
"eigner, who unwittingly, in the wares he sold the natives, , 
changed the whole school of coloring in the native mind. This 
applies, not only to the zerapes of Saltillo, but to the pottery of 
Patzcuaro and Guadalajara. 

Saltillo is the capital of the State of Coahuila, which once 
included all of Texas. The city was founded in 1586, but was 
not incorporated until 1827. The location is just on the rise of 
the plateau, and the climate is a delightful one, with only a 
very few days of cold weather in all the year. All the fruits ; 
of the temperate zone, and many of the tropics, are grown. 
Apples and oranges, pears and bananas, are found in the same 
gardens that are on either side of the street through which the 
railroad runs. The horse car has not made its appearance at Saltillo yet. The 
short distance from the station to the very pretty plaza may be made on foot, or 



\ 




150 



carriages will be found waiting the arrival of trains. The driver will make a 
contract, ^tf>r/zc>ra, at very low figures, and if there is a lack of elegance in equip- 
age, yet it takes you to the lovely little alameda, to the baths of San Lorenzo or 
Alta Mira, and to the churches, which we will call San Francisco or Carmen, and 
brings you safely to the hotel. 

The battlefield of Buena Vista is about five miles south of Saltillo, hardly 
worth the while of an excursion, as it may be seen from the windows of the cars. 
The field is on the east side of the track. This, and the fort on the hill, a relic of 
the French occupation, is all there is to connect Saltillo with the country's history. 
Saltillo is on the Mexican National Railroad, 606 miles from the capital. The 
altitude is 5342 feet; population, 12,000. 

Salvatierra Down in the Lerma Valley is one of the prettiest towns in 
Saiva-«e-e)--ra Mexico, and, withal, one of the oldest and most thriving— -go- 

ing on in age to its second century, and possessing extensive cotton and woolen 
mills. Long ago Salvatierra was a trading point, and its location in the midst of 
a fertile plain has made it a place of importance. 

The tower on the north of the track, seen from the car windows, is that of the 
Church of Nuestra Senora de las Luces, the parish church, and a very fine one, 
with handsome decorations and paintings. There are other churches well worth 
a visit. The Plaza, the Alameda and the markets are all interesting, but the most 
picturesque is the bridge of stone arches which spans theRio Lerma, as old, 
almost, as the city is. It is a picture in itself, with its quaint traffic crossing to 
and fro, going to town and country with the product of the field and farm, or the 
results of tienda trades in town. The town was founded in 1643, and named for 

the then viceroy. The lands were 
donated by Don Andres Alderete 
and his wife for the city, for which 
they received an annuity from the 
crown of 2000 pesos. The location 
of Salvatierra was in the path of 
marching armies; the city suffered 
more or less during the various 
wars, but recovered rapidly, and 
now the progress of peace is evi- 
denced in all her streets. Salva- 
tierra is in the State of Guana- 
juato, on the Mexican National 
Railroad, 197 miles from the City. 
The altitude is 5714 feet; popula- 
tion, 11,000. 

San Luis PotOSl T^ere 

San Lu-ese Po-to-see IS ban 

Luis and a St. Louis in every coun- 
try, but there is only one San Luis 
Potosi — only one San Luis of the 
Treasure — that in Mexico, the 
capital of the State of that name, 
and one of the most satisfactory 
cities in all that country. In the 
midst of a spreading plain of great 
fertility, the gardens and groves extend into fields that stretch away to the circling 
hills, that are rich in mineral deposits of the precious metals, notably those of the 
rich San Pedro mines, where the annual silver output runs up into the millions. 
Long before the advent of the Spaniard the mines were known to the natives, 




DROP CURTAIN SHOWING THEATRE, SAN LUIS POTOSI. 



151 

and were revealed by a pious Indian, with the hope of advancing the cause of 
Christianity. A venerable monk called the place by its present name, from its 
resemblance to the Potosi mines in Peru. Since then the production has been in 
untold millions down to the present day, when the annual coinage of the mint is 
more than $3,000,000. 

San Luis was not made a city till about 1666, although a settlement was made 
there 100 years earlier, so the city has not been one of a mushroom growth; and 
the advent of the railroad has not been the cause of its prosperity, because this 
city has been, for a hundred years or more, a great trading center for the eastern, 
as Guadalajara has been for the western slope. Until the completion of the rail- 
ways, the means of transportation to the sea was by pack mules across the 




FOUNTAIN AT SAN LUIS POTOSI, 

plains and over the mountains. But now San Luis Potosi has greater facihties 
and becomes a railroad center, the Mexican National Railroad, leading north 
and south, and the Central westward to the main line and east to the Gulf of 
Mexico, at Tampico. The stations of both roads are near the city's center, 
adjoining one of the principal plazas— a feature not common in Mexico, nearly 
all the stations being more or less distant, but, as at San Luis Potosi also, with 
horse-car connections to the hotels and plazas. 

San Luis is noted for the cleanliness of its streets, and the bright fresh look of 
its houses, which is looked after by the City Fathers. An ordinance prevents the 
citizens from becoming negligent as to the appearance of their dwellings, and 
they must be kept in order at all times. It is pleasant to walk through these 
streets, and through the plazas and plazuelas, of which there are many, with their 



152 



trees and flowers, fountains and pagodas, where there is music in the evenings, 
and where the people do congregate. And there's many an open doorway that 
shows the -p^ttty patios, with their miniature gardens filled with flowers, fountains 
and smging birds, and these go to tell that the brightness 
and freshness of a San Luis Potosi house is not all on the 
outside. The markets and market places, near by the hotels, 
are to be included in the walks about town, and are 
mtensely interesting, as all Mexican markets are. The 
State Capitol, the Library and Museum, with nearly 
100,000 volumes, El Instituto (the State College), the 
Alhondiga and the Lonja Mercantil, are the prom- 
inent places of the city to be visited, and are all 
buildings above the average in every way. Horse- 
car rides may be made to Guadalupe and Tequis- 
quidpan, the Baths of La Soledad, to Axcala and Santi- 
ago, the cars starting from the main plaza; the fares are 
from five to twenty-five cents, according to the distance 
traveled. In the rainy season, as an additional attrac- 
tion, the horse cars carry signs conveying the informa- 
tion that there is water in the river. Good carriages may 
be had at the railway stations, or on the plaza, at from fifty 
cents to a dollar per hour. The churches are more than*usually 
interesting, and are, for the most part, fine examples of the 
prevailing styles of architecture — are rich in native decorative 
art, in carvings, paintings and pictures. The Cathedral, for- 
merly the parish church, is on the Plaza Mayor, a really fine 
building, with ambitious towers built of stone; the pillars and 
altars are also of cut stone. The See of San Luis Potosi was 
not promulgated till 1854, though the first church was founded 
in 1583. The two tall towers of red stone seen from the west 
windows of the cars, just south of the city, are those of the Church of Guadalupe, 
standing high above the plain and the surrounding trees, and can be seen for 
miles up and down the road, an imposing landmark, that shows where the city 
is, long before it can be seen. 

In the facade of the church is a fine clock, presented by the King of Spain, in 
return for the gift of the largest single piece of silver ore ever taken from a mine. 
The church is well worth a visit, which may best be made by a carriage drive out 
the Paseo, passing the markets, the fountains, with their scores of quaintly 
costumed water-carriers, with queer wheelbarrows, carrying from one to three 
earthen jugs, the barracks and the penitentiary — a somewhat dusty road, but an 
interesting drive, with much to see. 

In the Church of El Carmen are some especially fine paintings, illustrative of 
the saints — both native and foreign — if saints may be so designated. The other 
churches are Merced, San Agustin and San Francisco; one never tires of the 
churches of Mexico, and cannot tire of these. 

They are a thrifty people of San Luis Potosi, and the stores and shops attest 
the fact. Every one has a "this-is-my-busy-day " look; the dealers are intent on 
business, and the customers, in crowds, drive sharp bargains. The gold and silver 
embroidery of the native is a pretty souvenir to buy; it is in the shape of 
slippers and pieces for ornament, that may be bought at varying prices, according 
as the work is more or less elaborate. Pottery, feather and palm work may 
also be found. As I have said, San Luis Potosi is a railroad center. There is a 
frequent train service, and the stop may be long or short, going south to the City, 
north to the United States, east to Tampico or west to Aguas Calientes. 




153 



San Luis Potosi is reached by the Mexican National and Mexican Central 
Railways. The distance from the City of Mexico is 362 miles. The altitude is 
5786 feet; population 85,000. 




MEXICAN NATIONAL STATION, SAN LUIS POTOS 



San IMiffUel de AUende a picturesquely pretty city, that is set upon 
San Me-gii de Ai-iyen-de a hill and cannot DC hid, IS ban Miguel de 

Allende, where its rugged streets, and gardens terraced on the steep sides of the 
enchanted Cerro de Moctezuma, look down over the valley of Laja and to the blue 
hills far beyond. The ride of a mile from the railway, in the old-time coaches, is 
an interesting one, leading over a hill and intervening valley, where an ancient 
bridge of crumbling arches crosses a stream of clear, sparkling water, and enters 
the quaint old town that lies spread out on the hillside above; then, with a zigzag 
course, it is a climb to a plaza that one has no hint or suspicion of, it is such a 
pretty one, till the coach pulls up in front of the hotel that faces it, and 
whose casement windows look out over the prettiest of evergreen trees. The 
hotel is a surprise as well, and was once the palatial home of a wealthy and pious 
man, Seiior Don Manuel Tomas de la Canal, and his wife, who donated the very 



154 

beautiful chapel of the Casa de Loreto, a chapel that is a very poem of color and 
carving. If architecture be frozen music, then this gem is a dulcet melody, where 
there is a delicious warmth in its very congealing. But to go back to the hotel 
again, the image of the Virgin of Loreto over the door was placed there through 
the reverence of the family. Canal, when it was their home. 

The very beautiful Gothic church on the plaza, the only one of its kind in 
Mexico, was the work of a native architect, who knew not the process of "blue 
prints," and drew his plans with a stick in the sand; these were the only 
guides for the builders to work by. The original church was completed nearly 
a hundred years ago, and the interior, with the exception of a renovation in 1842-3, 
remains the same, only the facade and the beautiful Gothic towers being new; this 
is the parish church. The others are San Rafael, adjoining the Parroquia, in 
which there are some strange statuary and paintings, and attached to this church 
is the Casa de Loreto, one of the most beautiful things in Mexico in carvings, gild- 
ings and glazed tiles, presented by Senor Canal in 1635. The names of the other 
churches worth visiting are the Concepcion, San Francisco, Nuestra Sehora de la 
Soledad and the Chapel of Calvario, at the top of a steep hill, which the wicked- 
est sinners approach on their knees, stopping at the fourteen stations of the cross, 
on the hillside, to pray. San Miguel has an important place 
in the history of the country. The patriot, Ygnacio Allende, 
was born here, to which fact is due the addition of 
Allende to the name of the town. About a dozen miles 
distant, to the north, is the village and Santuario de 
Jesus Nazareno de Atotonilco, founded in 1748, fam- 
ous as the place whence Hidalgo took the banner of 
the Virgin of Guadalupe that became the standard 
of Independence, and, with Allende, carried it to 
San Miguel, where the Queen's regiment joined the 
insurgent forces, which became a victorious patriot 
army. The visit to San Miguel is not complete 
without an excursion to Atotonilco. 

In the southern part of the city and high up on 
the hill are some very beautiful gardens, laid in pretty 
terraces of flowers, watered by a hundred little cascades 
'of clear water, that come down from the springs still 
higher up on the cerro, where the baths are — delightful baths, 
where the water comes pouring from under the rocks and into the baths, fresh and 
pure, accommodatingly warm in winter and cool in summer. To get there one may 
ride, but the carriage rattles over some very stony streets, and although it is a 
climb, I would suggest to walk. Leave the plaza, walk one square up the hill, turn 
to the right one square, then another up and again to the right, till you come to 
the gardens. These turns to the right break the climb and give you a rest, for the 
hill is a steep one, but the trip is well worth the going, whether you walk or ride. 
As the people of Mexico are all courtesy and hospitahty, they are especially 
so at San Miguel, and are always glad to welcome the stranger within the gates 
of their beautiful city. 

San Miguel is in the State of Guanajuato, on the Mexican National Railroad, 
253 miles from the City; altitude, 6231 feet; population, 20,000. 

SilaO Silao was founded in the year 1553, by Don Francisco Cervantes Ren- 
See-?ow don, but was not pronounced a city till 1861. It is in the midst of a 
fertile valley, close to the silver hills of Guanajuato. The completion of the rail- 
way, the establishment of shops, and the building of the branch to Guanajuato, 
enhanced the importance of the place and caused a wakening from the three hun- 
dred years' nap, from the settlement to the incorporation of the city. 




155 



It is worth the while to wander through the narrow streets. The Plaza Mayor 
is not far from the station. Santiago, completed in 1728, is the parish church. 
It has a particularly pretty tower, tall and slender. The Church of El Sefior de la 
Vera Cruz contains a curious figure of the Christ in papier mache, antedating the 
conquest of Spain by the Moors. It was presented to the Indians by the mission- 
aries. The Santuario del Padre Jesus was built in 1798. The only other church 
of importance is San Nicolas. 

Silao is in the State of Guanajuato, on the Mexican Central Railway, 238 miles 
from the City of Mexico and fifteen miles from Guanajuato, by branch road. The 
population is 15,000; altitude, 5828 feet. 

TampicO ^'^ '■^^ tropical tierra calieftte, Tampico lies on the Gulf shore, 
Tam-pec-ko at the mouth of the Rio Panuco, which is a truly noble and great 
river, in which the navies of the world might ride. Indeed, Tampico is the rival 
of Vera Cruz, as the chief seaport on the east coast of Mexico, and, with the com- 
pleted jetties and the deep rivers, the great merchant ships may make fast to the 
piers, instead of lying outside and "lightering" in. The rivers emptying here are 
navigable for some miles into the interior, where the scenery is rich in tropic 




beauty. About ten miles west of Tampico there are the ruins of an ancient city, 
a relic of the Aztecs, or some other race of the pre-Cortez days. There is a con- 
siderable hill and the remains of embankments and other earthworks, together 
with a large, rudely sculptured stone. At the summit is a collection of pyramidal 
and conical mounds, many of them excellently preserved by a sort of shell of 
rectangular stone slabs set closely together on edge. Some excavations, made 
several years ago, showed the interior to be composed of earth, commingled with 
ashes and broken pottery. The ruins extend for several miles, and a populous 
city must once have occupied the site. It is supposed that the houses of the 
inhabitants, built of cane and reed, similar to those of to-day, stood on the 
top of the mounds. 

At Tamos, several miles above Tampico, is the first sight of the Panuco, com- 
ing from the interior. The stream is navigable to this point for ocean steamers 
of considerable draught. 

Just beyond Tamos, the Tamesi, another large river, is crossed by a long and 
substantial drawbridge, at its junction with the Panuco. Both streams are navi- 
gated by steamboats into the interior, and they are well worth the while of the 
voyage, the scenery being particularly fine. 



156 



At Tan:ipico the station is close to the water, where the view is enlivened by 
the various craft lying at the wharves and anchored in the stream — steamships, 
schooners, brigs, river steamers, tugs, lighters, etc. — a respectable fleet altogether, 
and but an earnest of what will be seen here in the future. Tampico is an 
attractive looking place, with an architectural appearance cjuite different from 
what may be seen elsewhere in Mexico. It seems a combination of New Orleans 
with a distinctively Spanish style. The buildings mostly have pitched roofs, and 
wood is more commonly employed in construction than elsewhere in Mexico, 
though the walls are chiefly of massive masonry. The houses of many colors 
have wooden verandas along their fronts, at each story, in the style common in 
the southern states of our country. A large part of the city stands on a bluff, 
which rises from near the river to a height of perhaps twenty to fifty feet or 
more, and at the end of two of the streets broad stone steps descend to the water 
front. On the river front is the most picturesque market, 
with its tents and scores of white umbrellas. Near it is the 
Plaza, with an almost darkness of dense shade. The trees 
are the homes of myriads of twittering, noisy ravens. 
The river at Tampico is 1800 feet wide, and has 
fi an average breadth of 800 feet; for several miles 
'^ above its mouth, the minimum depth is thirty 
^. \j feet. The rise and fall of the tide is so slight 
— only about eighteen inches — that there is 
no inflowing current, and, with the construc- 
tion of the jetties, there is a constant out- 
going scour across the bar. For the greater 
part of the way the river banks are low 
and marshy, but on the right shore, 
t\\ o or three miles below the town, 
there is a line of high, 
rocky bluffs, that some- 
time will probably be in 
demand as a place of sum- 
mer residence, with their 
fine view of the sea and 
sweep of breeze from the 
Gulf, which, blowing soft 
and free for most of the 
time, makes the air agree- 
ably refreshing. 

To reach Tampico from 
the interior, change cars 
on the main line of the 
Central at Aguas Calien- 
tes, and on the National at 
San Luis Potosi, or pro- 
ceed, via the Monterey & 
Mexican Gulf Railroad, 
from Trevefio, on the In- 
ternational, or Monterey 
on the National road. 

Tampico is a regular 
port of the Ward Line, 
and other steamer lines from all parts of the world are attracted hither by the fine 
harbor, made by the completion of the jetties, two long arms of stone walls extend- 




^Ife 



RUINS NEAR TEXCOCO. 



157 




AT TEXCOCO. 



ing out into the sea, more than a thousand feet, and one of the most important im- 
provements of the age. Tampico is in the State of TamauUpas; population, 6000. 

TexcOCO Texcoco was the 
Tez-co-co ancient capital of 
the great Netzahualcoyotl, and,in 
1431, was the rival of Tenochtit- 
lan, now the City of Mexico. At 
that time Texcoco might have 
been called the Athens of the 
western world, as Tenochtitlan 
was its Rome. Cortez came from 
Tlaxcala and Cholula to Texcoco, 
and brought with him the bergan- 
tiiies across the mountains, put 
them together on the shores of the 
lake, and prepared to take his 
army to lay siege to the capital of 
Montezuma. The Tlaxcalans, 
already his allies, the Cholulans 
destroyed by massacre, he found 

the people of Texcoco in the throes of dissension and civil war, and there was 

naught in the way of his march to Tenochtitlan. The base of operations was at 

Texcoco, and here, later, Cortez made his abode while under a royal exile from 

the City of Mexico, and here for some years his bones were buried. 

In the royal palace of Netzahualcoyotl, at Texcoco, was a courtyard, on the 

opposite side of which were two halls of justice. In the principal one, called the 

"Tribunal of God," was a throne of pure gold, 

inlaid with turquoise and other precious 

stones. On a stool in front was placed a ' 

human skull and crowned with an immense 

emerald of a pyramidal form, and surmounted "^-t 

by an aigrette of brilliant plumes and precious i 

stones. The skull was laid on a heap of mili- 
tary weapons, shields, quivers, bows and •_ 

arrows. The walls were hung with tapestry, 

made of the hair of different wild animals, of 

rich and various colors, festooned by gold 

rings and embroidered with figures of birds 

and flowers. Above the throne was a canopv 

of variegated plumage, from the center of 

which shot forth resplendent rays of gold and 

jewels. The other tribunal, called "the king's," 

was also surrounded by a gorgeous canopy of 

feathers, on which emblazoned the royal arms. 
Texcoco is a pretty little town, with narrow 

streets, shaded by orange trees, centering on 

a plaza, where there is a bust of Netzahual- 
coyotl. On a corner south of the plaza is a 

fountain, surmounted by a statue of Hercules, 

presented by Sefior Ruperto Jaspeado. The 

old Church of San Francisco, founded by 

Fray Pedro de Gante, was the tomb of Cortez. 

There are many ruins and relics of the forgotten ages in and around Texcoco. 

In the south part are three pyramids, and in the north another. West of the town, 




A CORNER IN TEXCOCO. 



158 

about three miles, are the ruins of an ancient wall, near the old Church of Huixotla. 
About three miles east are the most beautiful gardens of the Molino de Flores(the 
mill of the flowers). Let the mind be disabused of anything like a flour mill, or a 
barn-like structure with dusty sides and roof. Heavy gates open through stone 
walls and admit to what seems the court of a mediaeval castle. Tortuous stairways 
of stone lead to the castle, the summer home of the ancient family, Cervantes, 
who have owned this bit of another world for some centuries. Beyond the gates, 
a little farther, are the gardens that might have been a part of Eden. There are 
grottoes and cascades, and a chapel that is also the tomb of the Cervantes, with 
sepulchres cut in the solid rock. Near by is the "laughing hill," Tetzcotzinco, the 
favorite resort of Netzahualcoyotl. There are terraced walks, and stairways wind- 
ing around the hill. A basin in the rock has been called Montezuma's bath. It was 
probably a distributing reservoir to the gardens below. There are some wonder- 




THE MILL OF THE FLOWERS. 

ful examples of native engineering near the "laughing hill," where the hills are 
connected across the valleys by err\bankments, in some places fifty feet high, on 
the top of which was built an aqueduct about two feet wide, with a conduit about 
a foot in width. In all it was twelve or fifteen miles in length, and much of it 
yet remains in a perfect state of preservation. Near the Molino de Flores, at 
Cuatlenchan, was found the idol, Xicaca, goddess of waters, now in the National 
Museum. Three miles west is the Hacienda de Chapingo, belonging to the 
estate of the late ex-president. General Gonzales. 

Texcoco is in the State of Mexico, on the Interoceanic Railway, twenty miles 
from the City; population, 10,000; altitude, 7687 feet. 

Tlaxcala T^^& very name is synonymous with antiquity and reminiscent of 
Tiaz-cai-a Cortez and his indomitable band of adventurers. It is one of 
the most interesting places in all Mexico, both for the beauty of its location 
and its historic associations. 



150 

On leaving the train at the httle station of Santa Ana, the visitor will find the 
two horse cars at the station, first and second class respectively. From Santa 
Ana to Tlaxcala is about six miles, through beautiful woods or through culti- 
vated fields, the hedges on either side of the road covered with wild flowers, 
filling the air with perfume. The route is through the quaint little town of San 
Pablo Apetitlan; thence across the river and past the Church of San Esteban. To 
the west is a magnificent view of the two mighty volcanoes of Popocatepetl and 
Ixtaccihuatl, their summits crowned with eternal snows, dazzlingly white and 
glistening in the sunlight; to the east may be seen the lofty and beautiful 
"Malintzi," — the whole forming a picture perhaps unequaled on this continent, 
or in the world. At last, after a ride of about forty-five minutes, the town of 
Tlaxcala is reached and the car stops in the queer little plaza. 

Tlaxcala is situated in a valley, with hills entirely surrounding it, but we 
read that at the time of the conquest, when Tlaxcala boasted 300,000 instead of 




BULL RING, TLAXCALA. 



4,000 inhabitants, as now, the town was built on the hills, the valley being reserved 
for agricultural purposes, and it is probable that from this fact it takes its name, 
which means " Land of Bread." 

The museum is never " open " to the public, for the reason, presumably, that 
it is only tourists who care to visit it, but it is a very easy matter to obtain 
admission. The visitor should call at the Municipal Palace (a building which 
dates back to the Spanish conquest), situated on the Plaza, and one of the 
obliging officials will send with you a "mozo" or servant, with the keys of 
the museum which is situated on the next street. Before leaving, however, he 
will naturally expect that you will wish to see the Council Room, and if the visitor 
is not awed on being admitted to this celebrated chamber, he will, at least, be 
interested in the pictures which adorn its walls. These are copies of the 
original pictures of the g'reat Tlaxcalan chieftains who allied themselves 
with Cortez, namely: Lorenzo Mazihcatzin, Chief of Ocotetulco; Gonzalo Tla- 




160 

huexolotzin, Chief of Tepeticpac; Bartholome Zitlalpopoca, Chief of Ouiahuiztlan, 
and Vicente Xicohtencatl, Chief of Tizallan. The first name of each is the 
"Christian" name, given to them by the Spaniards 'when they were baptized, 

which was in the year 1520. The originals of these 
portraits were lost at sea in 1742. There is nothing 
more of any particular interest to be seen here, and 
the next place is the museum. This contains a most 
interesting collection of idols and of Tlaxcalan pot- 
tery, found at various times in the town and sur- 
rounding country, but that which the visitor will most 
wish to see is the "Banner of Cortez," as it is usually 
called, but to be more correct, the banner which 
Cortez presented to the Tlaxcalans. It is kept in a 
glass case and is in an excellent state of preserva- 
tion. In the next case are, also preserved, the silken 
gowns which the chieftains wore when baptized, and 
a little to one side are the embroidered vestments of 
ROOF OF CHURCH. TLAxcALA. ^^^ ^^.^^^^^_ ^^^^^ ^^^ -^ ^^^^ ^ peviect Condition 

that it is hard to believe they are nearly 400 years old; they are an eloquent 
memorial to the skill of their makers. Here, too, are more pictures representing 
the famous four chieftains, as well as old plans and maps of Tlaxcala. 

The Church of San Francisco is the oldest in America. Its foundations 
were commenced in the year 1521, the same year that the conquest of Mexico 
was completed. Here everything is antique; the very chairs used by the 
good fathers, at the present day, look as if they might be two hundred years 
old. After admiring the high altar, turn to the right and enter the chapel of the 
" Tercer Orden." The first thing which attracts the attention on entering is an 
enormous font. This is the actual font in which were baptized the four chief- 
tains whose portraits and garments we have already seen. On the other side of 
the chapel is an old pulpit, the tablet informing us that from it was preached the 
christian gospel, for the first time "in this new world." The church is situated 
on the slope of a hill, and is approached by a paved way leading up from the 
queer old market place, where, if you loiter a while, you will hear as much Indian 
spoken as Spanish. The men and women sit on the ground beside their wares, 
laughing and chatting among themselves in the Aztec language. You will find, 
however, that they talk Spanish perfectly, if you wish to buy any of the luscious 
fruits or other commodities displayed. 

The paved way leading up from the market place to the church passes under 
an old archway which connects the bell tower with the building which was 
formerly the convent, but now used by the government as the barracks. Facing 
the church and the barracks is a paved court-yard, which extends about one 
hundred and fifty feet to the edge of the hill, the side fronting the cliff being 
protected by a low wall. Directly under this, about fifty or sixty feet beneath, is 
the "bull ring," affording the soldiers (or at least the officers) of the barracks an 
excellent place from which to view the corrida without payment. The "Xicoten- 
catl" Theatre is opposite the San Carlos Hotel, but it looks as if it had not been 
open for years. It is a walk of about fifteen minutes to the famous Santuario 
de Ocotlan, built on a hill overlooking Tlaxcala. 

This church is built to commemorate the miraculous appearance of the 
Blessed Virgin of Ocotlan to the Indian Juan Diego, the legend being almost the 
same as that connected with the yet more famous shrine of Guadalupe, near 
Mexico City. The church is a very fine building, with two very lofty towers. 
The interior is splendidly decorated, the high altar especially being a perfect 
marvel of wood carving. 



161 




Before arriving at the church you will probably notice the two curious barrel- 
shaped structures, about ten feet high, in the middle of the road. These are 
called "cuitacomatis" and are used for storing corn, preserved safely from rats 
and mice. It speaks well for the honesty of the little village that the owners 
do not seem to fear any pilfering by their neighbors, for the "cuitacomatis" are 
built in the roadway, opposite the homes of their owners, and are only protected 
at the top by a wooden cover, well thatched to prevent the rain entering. 

The view from the churchyard of Ocotlan is most beautiful. From it can be 
seen the three mountains, Pococatepetl, Ixtaccihuatl and Mahntzi. Immediately 
below is the town of Tlaxcala, and a little beyond is the river, which can be seen 
for miles, winding its way down the valley of Atoyac. Across the river, which is 
spanned by a light iron 
bridge of modern make, a 
little way from the main 
channel, the river has cut 
its way through the rocks, 
forming a deep canon, 
and in one place it has 
forced its path underneath 
the rocks, leaving them 
overhanging, and forming 
a Natural Bridge. 

Tlaxcala is near the 
station of Santa Ana, on 
the branch line of the 
Mexican Railway from 
Apizaco to Puebla. It is 
the capital of the State of 
Tlaxcala. The population 
is 4000; altitude 7506 feet 
above the sea. 

Toluca To go over 
To-too-ca the hills to 
Toluca is one of the things 
to do in Mexico. No mat- 
ter by what route one may 
have arrived at the capi- 
tal, one must go to Toluca. 
The going there is the 
chief charm of the three- 
hour excursion. If you 
take an afternoon train 
from the city, you will 
have the sun behind the 
Sierra Madres; while the 
train climbs the eastern 
slope, creeping along in 
the darkening shadows, 
there is still a flood of 
sunlight over the plain, 
glistening the towers of 
the distant city and the lakes beyond, and, above all, whitening still more the 
snows on Popocatepetl and Ixtaccihuatl ^a picture dazzling and grandly, sub- 
limely beautiful. It may be that the sun has dropped behind the further western 




ALAMEDA OF TOLUCA. 



162 




hills ere you turn the crest of 
these, and there is a softening 
twilight over the Toluca Valley; 
but when the return is made 
on a morning train, the sun is 
again behind the Madres, this 
time in the east, making an- 
other panorama equally beau- 
tiful, with Ocoyacac under the 
precipice, a thousand feet down, 
and the River Lerma, stringing 
in a silver line way across the 
plain, and lost from sight be- 
yond the hills. On the farther 
side is Toluca, and, beyond the 
city, the Nevada de Toluca, 
the volcano, once called Xin- 
antecatl. Thus, in a little jour- 
ney of three hours, are two of 
the world's grandest views, 
worth a longer journey to see. 

Horse cars from the station 
run through the Calle Inde- 
pendencia, past the statue of 
Hidalgo, to the plaza and near 
the hotels. 

That Toluca is a marvel- 
ously clean city is discovered 
in the shortest stay; the houses 
look bright and new, although 
it is one of the oldest cities in 
the country, and the buildings 
are larger and finer than usual. 
The State buildings — this is 
the capital of the State of 
Mexico — erected on the spot 
where once stood the house of 
Don Martin Cortez, son of the 
conqueror, are the finest in the 
Republic, and the market, with 
its pillars of Pompeiian colors 
is a thing of beauty. It is not 
far to the hot country, and all 
the tropical fruits and flowers 
are to be found. In the portales 
one may find laces, "drawn 
work," pottery and a thousand 
things for souvenir purchasers. 

The residence of a rich /lac- 
iendado is shown, who, in his 
time, was a great patron of the 
bull-ring, and furnished from 
his hacienda many a bravo 
toro, till they became famous 



E^UMBOLDTS TABLET, BIG TREE OF TULE. 



163 




in every ring, and his colors, dangling from a grizzly neck, brought loud huzzas 
when the animal bounded into the arena. One bull fought his way back to life 
and liberty. The picadors could not hold him off, and he killed their horses; 
the banderilleros, if they could place their darts in his 
shoulders, had them shaken out in his rage, and the 
matadors were hissed and hissed, because 
they could not kill him. The old hacien- 
dado looked on with delight, and plead 
with the president not to allow him to be 
lassoed and "assasinated," as he said. 
The wish was granted, and the bull was 
driven back to the corral, and returned 
hacienda to live some happy years, and 
,. - —=.-. - ^ green old age, he died in peace, sur- 

i^g2-^.:,ri-_~--.-vr^'.— -.—*'- — =- rounded by a numerous and belligerent progeny, 

his body was interred minus the skin, which was stuffed and hung up for orna- 
ment in his master's banquet hall. 

The view from the hill, just back of the city, is a pretty one, but from the top 
of the volcano it is a grand one, reaching from the Gulf to the Pacific. The 
height, as estimated by Humboldt, is 15,156 feet above sea-level. The ascent and 
return requires two days, though it is not a difficult or perilous one. The top is 
not more than ten feet wide, and the crater contains a fathomless lake with a 
whirlpool in the center. 

The valley and site of the city of Toluca was within the grant of Charles V. to 
Cortez as the Marquis of the Valley, and a settlement was made here in 1530, but 
not till 1677 was Toluca made a city. 

The Church of San Francisco was founded in 1585. The parish church was 
built in 1585. The Church of Nuestra Senora del Carmen contains the first organ 
made in America. Near the city, about two miles west, is the Church of Nuestra 
Senora de Tecajic, containing a miraculous image of the Virgin, on coarse cloth, 
painted more than two hundred years ago, and held in much veneration by 
the Indians. 

Toluca is the capital of the State of Mexico, on the Mexican National Railroad, 
forty-five miles from the City; elevation, 8617 feet above the sea; population, 25,000. 
Tula ^^ ^^ ^^^ ^^° hours from the capital of modern Mexico to the center of 
Too-ia the Toltec Empire, where the ruins of the oldest capital of the conti- 
nent lie half buried in the sands, blown over them in the 1200 years since their 
building — but two hours from the great houses of the nineteenth century to 

the casus grandes of the seventh. Tula was the 
capital of the Toltecs, founded about the year 
638. After the migration of this people 
from the north, they halted just beyond 
the plain of Mexico, and, on the banks 
of the little river, builded a great 
city, that became the rival of Te- 
nochtitlan and Texcoco. The place 
was a "place of reeds," and they 
called the city Tula, which is also 
Tollan, and was known by other 
names, Tlapallan and Huehuetlalpallan, to 
the ancient dwellers in the land. In these 

days, the mighty capital is a little railway junction village, a most pretty one 
withal, with antiquities a thousand years younger than the casus grundes, but are 
older than our oldest walls. The ruins of the ancient temples of the Toltecs are 




degenerate 



164 



called the casas grandes. They are on the Cerro de Tesoro, a hill just beyond 
the river, reached by a walk of a mile, through a broad way shaded by great 
trees, over an old stone bridge, of Spanish make, and back, on the other bank of 
the river, to a point just opposite the town. There, almost buried and walless, 
are the casas grandes. The rooms are laid in terraces, one above the other, 
in hewn stone and hard cement, and connected with stairways. Some ruined 
walls, of the style of those around the church in the village, evidently of Spanish 
make, are near the ruins. 

In the plaza of Tula are some of the Toltecan relics, and the baptismal font in 
the church is of the same origin; many of the houses of the town have Toltec 
carvings hung up for ornament. 

The Church of San Jose, in partial ruins, was founded in 1553, and completed 
in 1 561. In the primitive days of its building, it was church and fortress combined, 
and the very thick walls were constructed with that view, as are shown by the 
battlements on the roof, on the walls, and on the walls of the old church near the 
casas grandes. The church is 190 feet long, 83 feet high, with a tower of 125 feet, 
all built of stone, roughly cut. The convent, 
built in 1585, IS now used as a cavalry bar- 
rack and stables. 




RUINS AT TULA. 



The pretty little town of Tula — and it is a very delightful one — can be made the 
object of a day's outing from the City of Mexico, taking the morning train out, 
and returning in the afternoon. It is on the line of the Mexican Central Railway, 
in the State of Hidalgo, at the junction of the Pachuca branch, fifty miles from 
the City, at an altitude of 6658 feet above the sea; population, 3000. 



165 



Vera Cruz Since the landing of Grijalva, in 1518, Vera Cruz has been the 

Ver-a crooz chief seaport of Mexico. Here, also, landed Cortez, April 21, 

1519, on Good Friday. For this, and the reputed richness of the land in gold, the 

place was named Villa Rica de la Santa Vera Cruz (the rich city of the true cross). 

There was no harbor for the safe riding of the vessels left behind, 

and after the conqueror had established himself in the interior, he 

sent an expedition down the coast and found the harbor of Coatza- 

coalcos, the present terminus of the Tehuantepec Route, on the 

Gulf. But this did not affect the importance of Vera Cruz. It 

was so much nearer the richer districts of the interior, that 

the city has remained the seaport of Mexico for nearly four 

hundred years. Ships drop anchor just below the island of 

San Juan de Uliia, and the landuig is by lighter and small 

boats, which is not included m the ship's fare. The prices 

of the landing vary, with the weather, from fifty cents in fair 

weather, to a dollar on stormy days. 

Vera Cruz may be done in a day. A walk about the streets 
and plazas, and along the Paseo, with its tall, waving palm trees, 
is all to interest; and to the church of the black Christ, where the 
image of the Savior is black; there is only one oth'^r like it, at 
Havana, or near that city. There is another thing that will 
attract the attention of the tourist at Vera Cruz, and that is the 
Street Cleaning Department. The employes work without salary, 
and find themselves, and their thorough manner (but not their 
methods) are to be commended. Their only reward is the enforce- 
ment of a city ordinance, which inflicts a five-dollar fine on the 
indiscreet and reckless citizen who should happen to kill one of 
them. The natives call these street cleaners, zopilotes, but to the 
American they are just plain, every-day buzzards. I may mention 
here, that Vera Cruz has an imitator, in this respect, in Charles- 
ton, S. C. But, altogether. Vera Cruz is to be visited to make 
the tour of Mexico complete. The island of San juan de Uliia, 
a prison now, once a fort, was commenced in 1582 and finished 
about 1750. It has been occupied at different times — by the 
S; by the Americans, in 1847; by the allied French, English and 
5; and was the seat of the Juarez Government, during the War of 
Excursions here, and to La Isla de los Sacrificios, may be made. 
The hiring of boats, for landing and for excursions, should be 
made by contract always. A tramway runs down the coast, to 
Medellin and Alvarado, that may be taken just for the ride and 
the novelty of it. 

The parish church, on the Plaza Mayor, was finished in 1734, 
and dedicated to Nuestra Senora de la Asuncion. The Church of f 
San Francisco was founded in 1568. The tower is now a light- '^ ; 
house, and the old convent contains the public library. The church \\ 
was formerly supported by a levy on all ships coming into the port. \ 
The Churches of San Agustin and La Campania were restored after k 
the great fire of i6ig. ^ V 

On the island of San Juan de Uliia is a little chapel, dedicated |^ 
to Nuestra Senora de la Escalera, in which offerings are made for 
the safety of sailors. 

Vera Cruz is reached from the interior by the Mexican and Inter- 
oceanic Railways. It is 263 miles from the City of Mexico, in the State of Vera 
Cruz; population, 20,000. 




A VERACRUZANA. 



French, in i 
Spanish, in i 
the Reform. 




166 




167 



Yautepec These little towns, down on the border of the tierra caliente, 
Ya-ojo-te-pec Seem farther away from the world, as we know it, and farther 
behind in the centuries, than the towns of thehills, and when you are in Yautepec, 
you are in another world and another century. The little town is nestled down 
in a valley that widens out, to the southward and west, into broad plains, where , 
the sugar cane grows; to the northward, the hills rise, one above the other, and 
reach to Popocatepetl and Ixtaccihuatl. The cane fields come even to the city 
limits, and within them the narrow streets crook and turn curiously. The dull 
gray walls seem cheerless enough, but here and there a half-open gateway reveals 
the tropical gardens on their other side, and some of the taller trees hang their 

golden fruit over their tops. You 
leave the station, and the loco- 
motive that is there, the only 
evidence that there is any other 
world but this lazy one you are 
just entering, as, in the novelty of 
it, you really forget the other, till 
the locomotive's whistle calls you 
back. A cross-topped tower, high 
over the low houses, will be a 
guide. Follow the streets that 
lead to it, and soon come to the 
plaza, which is also the alameda 
— a pretty little park with bright 
flowers and pretty trees, with a 
fountain under them, where the 
natives come, with great earthern 
jars, for the pure sparkling water 
that flows from it. Sit here on a 
stone bench; the inhabitants will 
come out and look at you. In the 
evening the band plays, and you 
will have an opportunity to see 
the "four hundred," as they pro- 
menade. There is wealth and 
beauty in the procession, such as 
it is not expected to see. At one 
end of the little park is a long 
table, covered with corn. "Ah, 
this is the market place," some 
one says, "a sort of produce ex- 
change, and these are the samples 
of corn." When you return after 
supper you find that he had mis- 
taken the class of traffic. A crowd 
of men, women and children are 
around the table. Each has a 
dingy looking card on the table; 
the card has three rows of 
five pictures each. A man at the 
end of the table holds a bag, from 
which he draws smaller cards, 
that have corresponding pictures 
to those held by the players; he 



A TEHUANTEPEC GIRL IN HOLIDAY DRESS. 




168 



calls the names of the animals in the pictures, and the person having a similar 
one places a grain of corn on it, and anyone getting five markers in a row wins 
the game and the money paid for all the cards, less the percentage of the banker. 
It is very much like that American game where one man yells something and all 
the others say something else. Just on the other side of the plaza a rambling stream 
runs over a rocky bed, almost dry now, but the waters, collected in pools, form a 
laundry place for Yautepec, presenting a picturesque scene. An old stone bridge, 
with a single arch, spans the stream for a path that leads to a convent, or priestly 
residence, whose gardens can be seen from the bridge, in all their tropical luxuri- 
ance. In the churchyard are some crumbling old tombs built in the walls of the 
church, or in the adjoining panteon. At the north end of the village is a pretty 
little chapel, and near it the plaza de toros. 

Yautepec is on the Morelos division of the Jnteroceanic Railway, in the 
State of Morelos, ninety-eight miles from the City of Mexico; altitude, 2340 feet; 
population, 7000. 

2acatecaS "^^^ approach to Zacatecas from the north gives no hint of any 
Zaca-toj/ cas City being near. The train climbs the tortuous windings of 
the track to reach the summit of a hill that is 8000 feet above the level of the sea. 
A tall tower-like chimney of a smelter that is seen, first on one side, and then on 
other, is the only evidence of civilization beyond the cars we ride in, and even at 
the station where the train stops, there is little to indicate the existence of the 
great city that is in the barranca just beyond the hill, and under the one whose 
rocky crest is so much like an immense buffalo, that it is called La Bufa. It is 
after leaving the station, or on the approach from the south, that the passing pas- 
senger is treated to one of the finest views in the world, if his seat be on the east 
side of the car. Away up the immense gulch, the flat-top houses, the domes and 
towers, seem to have slidden down from both the hills, till it is filled half way up, 
on either side, and straggling out the mouth of it, down on to the plain where 
Guadalupe is. And the road between Zacatecas and Guadalupe ! where is there 
any like it ? or these two cities — are there any, except in the Holy Land ? And 
the passers up and down that road, and the streets of the city, in the enchantment 
that distance lends them! do they not bring back the bible lessons of your younger 
days ? There are, also, the veritable Palestinian asses laden for 
the city, or returning lazily over a road that seems as hard as that 
which leads to Jordan, and far beyond Guadalupe's tov/ers is — not 
the Sea of Galilee, but Lake Pevernaldillo. And up the hill, 
toward the buffalo, is a rocky road, narrow as that which leads to 
righteousness, hedged with prickly thorns, that leads to the little 
Church of Los Remedies, founded in 1728, near the summit. Over 
this road, suffering devotees have crawled to do a cruel penance, 
at the behest of more cruel masters than ever lived in Palestine. 
On the hill of La Bufa a battle was fought between the Juarez 
forces and a revolutionary party, May 2, 1871, resulting in a vic- 
tory for Juarez. 

But the inevitable horse car dispels the Palestinic idea, and 
it will amply repay you to leave the train and take a seat in one 
that will take you from the station to the market plaza and to the 
hotels of Zacatecas. The city is easy of access — one just drops 
into town. The horse cars leave the station, and, per force of 
gravity, roll into the city, as they do into the suburb of Guadalupe. 
The mules work only half the time, but it is an up-hill business when they do 
work. The cars roll from the station to Zacatecas, or from the city to Guadalupe, 
but vice versa, they must be pulled up by main force. The coming up is as hard 
as the going down easy. The mules walk leisurely down the hill, without even the 




169 




labor of carrying the harness, which is piled on the front platform. The city is an 
interesting one, where some days may be passed in rambles up one hill and down 
the other. As you saw the city from the train, you could not believe there was 
room enough, and level enough, for a park, but Zacatecas has two that are filled 

^^iij^with flowers and fountains, and where, 
of course, the band plays in the even- 
ing, Sundays and feast 
r'^jfi^^ ^^^^-^ .-^ (^1^ ^t^ < days; in little nooks 

- «'.' S ", . ■ "^•^V^ *--■**'' ■ f 'y^Um:.- <J^^ 'mm^ \«^ _ and shelves in the 

rocks are num- 

ammmmm^ ■ ^ • bCrlcSS plaZUClaS 

'%^Jtf: >""^j*^^^HBito^^r^^HRL^IS^B' —beauty spots of 

ferns and flowers 
in rocky hillsides. 
Zacatecas is a busy 
city, and the streets 
present quite a met- 
ropolitan appearance, 
some of the buildings 
♦^ ..<S^Kf reaching three and 

four stories. The State 
and Municipal palaces 
''f are imposing above the 

average in Mexico. The 
churches to visit are Nuestra 
Senora de la Ascuncion, with its 
tiled dome and interior of white 
and gold; it once owned a font of 
silver that alone cost a fortune. This 
church was founded in 1612, and is now 
the cathedral. La Campania is the church 
of the Jesuits, begun in 1746, and contains some 
very fine pictures. The others are San Francisco, 1567, and San Juan de Dios. 
It is probable that the oldest Presbyterian church building in the world is at Zaca- 
tecas; it was once the Church of San Agustin, now devoted to Protestant uses. 

But it is to Guadalupe that the church enthusiast takes his way, very early 
after his arrival at Zacatecas. It is six miles to Guadalupq. The cars have been 
drawn by the mules up the hill to the market plaza, from whence they roll back 
to the market plaza of Guadalupe. Walk through this market, and just beyond 
it is one of the most interesting churches in this country of churches. 

In front of the church is a pretty park of roses, well kept. The grand old 
church, with its tiled dome, is worthy.of all the journey to see. The main altar 
has life-size figures representing the Crucifixion. 
Behind there is a canvas painting representing 
the Hill of Calvary, with the Jews and 
Roman soldiery in the middle background. 
These, with the figures in front, produce a 
very startling effect. 

The church is filled with people, kneel- 
ing at the various altars and confessionals, 
at all times. On the right of the church is the old 
convent, filled with hundreds of curious paintings, 
illustrating the lives and temptations of the saints — some of them going very 
much into detail. One fine picture of a giant and cherub, at the head of the stair- 



AFTER THE BULL FIGHT 




170 

case, is finely executed, and seems to be the work of a master hand. The con- 
vent building is now an orphan asylum, where there are over a thousand orphans. 

The Cupula, or chapel, a more recent addition to the old church, was the gift 
of a maiden lady of great wealth, a few years ago, and cost many thousands of 
dollars. The floor is inlaid with hard woods of different colors. A superb altar 
is rich in gildings, silver and gold, wax figures, silk and satin hangings. The 
altar rail is of onyx and solid silver. The walls are finely frescoed, arched 
to a dome fifty feet above the floor. This is all new, but is the finest 
chapel in Mexico. 

The mines may be visited by permit. Some are entered by shaft, others by 
tunnel. If you choose the former, the descent is by a bucket let down by horse- 




CHUBCH OF GU'\DALUPE, NEAR ZACATECAS. 



power windlass. Ladies undertake the trip sometimes, but are not welcomed by 
the miners, as they are regarded as unlucky visitors. 

Zacatecas was founded in 1548, two years after the discovery of silver, and was 
made a city in 1585. It is on the Mexican Central Railway, 439 miles from the 
City of Mexico, and is the capital of the State of Zacatecas; population, 75,000; 
altitude, 8044 feet. 



171 




Railway Rides in Mexico. 




" Call it travel, 
thai thou takest for pleasure." 

— Shakespeare, 



^^N 



South Over the Central. — Whenever there is a 
schedule that puts the train over the first two hun- 
dred miles south of the Rio Grande by night, take 
it; no matter which route you travel by, there is 
nothing to see but chaparral and desolate looking 
hills, and your first impressions would not be of 
the best. There is just enough novelty in the little 
towns on the border, that are so oddly new and so 
old fashioned, to awaken an anticipation for more; 
it is all the better to sleep over it and dream of 
what may be to-morrow. I can safely say that 
these dreams, at least, will not go by contraries. 
When the first morning in Mexico comes, 
with a brighter sunshine than you ever 
saw before, you will be an early riser; 
perhaps you will roll up the little curtain 
of your window, before you leave your 
pillow, and hurry out for a hasty toilet, fearing that you may miss something — and 
you might, for the scenery begins very early in the morning, and this old, old 
country is all new to you. The train is rolling along through a narrow valley, 
level as a billiard board, the veritable high table-lands we have read about, but 
never saw till now, lying between two close ranges of mountains, shrub-covered 
and crowned with the most entrancing cloud effects one imagines out of fairy 
land; the soft, white heaps are tossed above some towering summit or rolled into 
a blue valley between. 

While we are looking skyward there is an entrancing view at our feet; here is 
a first glimpse of an hacienda. At the farther end of the plain a group of white 
buildings, a wide corral, fenced in with slight boughs, and a fringe of most 
exquisite green, along the margin of a fine line of blue water, completes a pretty 
picture. Out of the corral, on one side, comes an immense herd of cattle, at the 
other an equally immense herd of goats, black, brown and white. A group of 
Indian women are filling great red jars at a pool of water, and across the dry 
water-courses flocks of sheep wander, followed by their shepherds. It is truly 
another world than that of yesterday. 



172 

By and by, between a gap in the deep red mountains, which wall up the 
narrow valley, there is a wonderful vista full of color, with another glint of 
another valley, and, far off, the mystical heights of some new range of hills which 
distance clothes with abundant majesty. The novelty never wears away. But 
this country is not all of deep valleys and lofty mountains; there are broad, 
spreading plains as well, yet, in all the land, in its length and breadth, the 
mountains are always in view. 

The railroads seem to come upon these Mexican towns unawares, and there is 
rarely a hint of them till we are at the station, and they are, with few exceptions, 
located a mile or more from the line of road. The first stop is at Chihuahua, made 
at the shops where the restaurant is located, and, until the train starts across the 
barranca there is nothing to be seen of the city, then the view is from the 
windows on the west side of the car. It is a good view of the city, with the tall 
towers of the Church of San Francisco standing high against the sky. While the 
train stops at the station just after crossing the bridge there is time to enjoy it. 

After leaving the station the better view is on the left, where the road to the 
mines of Santa Eulalia runs through the hills, and pretty soon the buildings and 
tall chimneys come to view, and just after leaving the station is the Cerro del 
Coronel on the right of the track. The road runs through a semi-lake region, 
passing through the valley of the Conchos and San Pedro. Near Santa Rosalia 
there are some hot springs, famous for their curative quali- 
ties. Jimenez is a 
city of some 8000 
C->; , people, the ship- 

,^ i ^l^'S»i. ping point for the 

^^jp- — . , , .-. Parral mining dis- 

trict. 




A COFFEE HACIENDA, 

MEXICAN CENTRAL RAILWAY 



173 

Stages run from Jimenez to Parral and AUende. Escalon is the junction point of 
the Mexican Northern Railway, running northeastward to the Sierra Mojada 
mining district, where is located one of the greatest carbonate camps in the 
world. Southward now, the road runs along the western border of the great 
Bolson de Mapimi, to interpret, literally, a "pocket" in the mountains. This is the 
Laguna country, in the rainy season almost covered by water, and in the dry 
season it collects in ponds or larger lakes. Several rivers, notably the Nazas, 
flow into this Bolson, and unless there is an underground outlet somewhere, the 
water must escape only by evaporation, but so much is used in irrigation that 
only a small stream reaches the basin. 

East of the line about Conejos is a curious sulphur mountain, easily distin- 
guished by the stripes of the mineral. Here is the rich cotton district of Lerdo, 




IN THE BARRANCA, GUADALAJARA. 

where the seed requires only to be planted once in three or four years. Lerdo is 
seen from the windows on the right, and soon after leaving the station the track 
crosses the Nazas River on a fine steel bridge; look up and down the river and 
see the dams and storage reservoirs for irrigation purposes. Three miles south 
of Lerdo the Central crosses the Mexican International Railroad at Torreon, with 
connections on the east for Eagle Pass and Monterey, and on the west for 
Durango. 

South from Torreon there is a continual up-grade of track, and the mountains 
are closer than on the borders of the Bolson. Just below the station of Guitierrez 
the Tropic of Cancer is crossed, and the first place of importance in the Torrid 
Zone is Fresnillo, once a great city before the overflow of the mines of Proano. 
The city is about five miles from the road, and has now only about 20,000 people. 



174 



Every hour of the journey, now, is one of increasing interest; still, as it is 
onward, it is upward, and its windings tortuous among the hills, where the scen- 
ery is grand, gloomy and peculiar. The climb is to reach the summit of a hill 
whose altitude is greater than any on the road, except one, a little over 8,000 feet. 
The tall tower-like chimneys of a smelter, high above the track, are seen first on 
one side and then on the other, as the road bends in one horseshoe after another. 
This is the approach to Zacatecas, one of the greatest mining cities of the world. 
There is no view of the city in the approach from the north, nor even as the train 
stands at the station; but, as it moves off, take a seat on the left of the car, or, 
what is better, go to the rear platform, for one of the finest views of the journey. 
The moment the wheels begin to roll, sharply down hill now, there is a full view of 
a city of 75,000 people, for all the world like one of Palestine, with its low, fiat 
topped houses and domed churches, two hundred feet below, spreading up and 
down the gulch and on the mountain side beyond, reaching down the valley with 
a straggling suburb, to Guadalupe, six miles away. The track winds around on 
the sides of the hills, passing directly over some mines and smelters, keeping the 
city in view all the while. Up and down the road that runs along the valley 
are curiously costumed people, droves of 
donkeys laden with silver, carts and cars, 
goats and cattle on the hillsides, and a 
hundred things to see not seen anywhere 
else in the world. 

Leaving Zacatecas behind, under the 
shadow of the great Cerro de la Bufa, an 
immense buffalo, cut in stone by Sculptor 
Nature, lies on the mountain's crest, keep- 
ing guard over this city of silver. Now 
below, in the valley, is Guadalupe, and far 
beyond is Lake Pevernaldillo,whose waters 
seem to meet the sky at the horizon. Those 
are not monuments over the graves of 
fallen heroes that you have seen through 
this mining district; those white tomb- 
stone-like objects are landmarks to desig- 
nate the boundaries of an hacienda or a 
mining claim. The road enters a more 
agricultural district below Guadalupe, and 
runs through one valley after another down to Aguas Calientes, on the plain. The 
city is on the west side of the road. No general view of the city may be had, as 
it is on the same level with the track, and a forest of green trees hides the houses. 
There is plenty to be seen at the station. The main street of the city crosses the 
track just below it; the bath-houses are within a stone's throw, and the hot-water 
ditch, wherein is the public laundry and baths of the Indians, crosses the track 
just at the end of the platform. From Aguas Calientes, or at Chicalote, nine miles 
above, the Tampico division connects with the main line of the Mexican Central. 

Onward, over the plains to the southward, it is still down grade to the barranca 
of Encarnacion, which the road crosses on a high iron bridge. Just under it, on 
the left side, is an irrigation reservoir. The station is just at the south end of the 
bridge, and a mile or two to the westward is the little town of La Encarnacion, 
with its towered Church of Candelaria, in view from the car windows, and the 
white Campo Santo. Now the track winds about over some rocky hills, as far as 
Las Salas, and then down to the plain again at Lagos, the city seen from the west 
windows. The scenery is not so wild here, but is very pretty indeed. In the 
range to the west is the immense El Gigante, high above all the other mountains. 




AT CUERNAVACA. 



175 



Leon is another of the great cities of this fertile plain, and one of the largest 
in Mexico. It is on the east side of the road; its streets are hedged with cac- 
tus and shaded by trees. Nothing but the towers of the churches can be seen. 
At Silao is the branch road for Guanajuato. The city of Silao is on the east 
side of the road and nearer to it than most of the cities are. The ride of sixteen 
miles to Guanajuato is a very picturesque one. As the train winds about through 
the hills there are glimpses of the great mining city, first from one side of the 
cars, and then from the other. 

Irapuato is the junction of the Guadalajara division and the station for straw- 
berries. They are on sale on the arrival of all trains, from June to January, and 
January to June. The city is on the west side, half a mile from the station. Sala- 




INTERIOR CHURCH OF SAN FRANCISCO, CHIHUAHUA. 

manca is the next place of importance, and then Celaya, where this road crosses 
the Mexican National. Both these cities are to be seen from the west windows. 
In the latter, high above the trees, is the yellow-tiled dome of the beautiful Church 
of Our Lady of Carmen, and back of the city the plain slopes gradually to a high 
mountain that is seen mil&s up and down the road. This beautiful valley is what 
is called the Bajio region and it seems to have grown in beauty and fertility; 
hence on, to Oueretaro, it is one vast garden between the low ranges of hills on 
either side. Oueretaro is on the east side of the track and just north of the city; 
also on the east side is the hill where Maximilian and his generals were executed, 
and south of it the track passes through a pretty suburb, where you may see your 
first palm tree and the first oranges and lemons in the groves where they grow. 



176 




177 



Just below these the train passes under the great stone aqueduct that brings the 
city's water supply from the mountains, five miles away. There are eighty of 
these arches, the highest of which, near where the track passes under, is ninety- 
four feet. The view is first on the left and then on the right. The great Her- 
cules cotton mills may also be seen from the right windows. 

At San Juan del Rio, the last city on the line, the track reaches an elevation 
of 6245 feet and commences the climb to the plain of Cazadero; at the little 
station of Marquee it reaches the highest point on the line, 8132 feet above the 
level of the sea, then starts on the down grade to the Tula Valley. Tula is the 
junction of the Pachuca branch. This little city is one of the Toltec towns where" 
there are some old ruins. It is a very picturesque place on the east side of the track. 

No matter what may be the time of day, early in the morning, late in the 
evening, or if there be a moon, no matter what time of night, be ready to see the 
Tajo de Nochistongo, the great drainage canal, commenced in 1607, with a pur- 
pose to drain the lakes of the plain of Mexico and prevent the inundation of the 
city, but after a cost of millions of dollars and thousands of men, was abandoned. 
The train passes on the east cut of the canal, so the view must be from the west 
windows or on the right, going south. When this great work is passed let every 
window on that side be occupied. At Huehuetoca there is the first view of 
the snow mountams, the great volcanoes of Ixtaccihuatl and Popocatepetl, and of 
the plain of Mexico, and within an hour a journey that has been full of pleasure 
and crowded with novelty ends at Buena Vista station, in the City of Mexico. 

Westward to Guadalajara. — The ride over this division of the Mexican 
Central Railroad, from the main line at Irapuato to Guadalajara, is not exactly like 
any other ride in Mexico and for this it is interesting. I do not know that the 
junction point was located at Irapuato as a particular favor to the strawberry 
Indians, but the necessary time for the transfer of passengers and baggage is very 
much in their favor, and scarcely a passenger but adds to his outfit. The branch 
road starts northward but, within half a mile, turns due west and encircles the 
town on its north side, running along through a tree covered plain. The line is 
rich in scenic beauty, as all roads in Mexico are, the journey is one of pleas- 
ure, no matter what other object it may have, and it is a rich agricultural country 
as well. The first station of importance is Penjamo, the quaint looking old town 
lying to the south of the road, and may be seen from the cars. It is a very inter- 
esting old place, with its narrow and crooked streets. It has a population of 
about 8000. La Piedad is the station for the old town of Piedad Cabadas, known 
in ancient and modern history by other aliases, but now answering to f^ 
the name given here. It is a city of some 10,000 people, located south of , 
the line, in the valley of the Lerma. Near the station the River 
Lerma is crossed. Here this longest river in Mexico is crossed 
for the first time and the road follows its windings, and runs 
along the south branch for some miles, crossing it again at 
La Barca, a city of 10,000 inhabitants, on Lake Chapala, where 
the Lerma empties into it. The river is sometimes called 
the Rio Grande, and is referred to as the Mississippi of 
Mexico. It is a curious fact that this river empties into Lake 
Chapala at La Barca and flows out of it just below Ocotlan, 
fifteen miles farther on. Lake Chapala is a most beautiful 
body of water, on which there have been steamboats. The 
machinery of the first one was brought from California, by 
sea, to San Bias, and thence packed on burros over the 
mountains; the laoiler lies on the beach, the rusty monu- 
ment to American pluck and energy. It is not recorded 
that anybody else has carried steamboats over the moun- 



A SHRINE AT CUERNAVACA. 




178 



tains on mules. The voyage around the lake is one of seventy miles, and of 
many delights in the superb scenery, exceptionally beautiful. High and over- 
hanging cliffs, reflected again in the clear waters, mountains, fertile plains, valleys 
with fields of fruits and groves of tropical trees. Sometimes, when a high east 
wind prevails, the waves loosen the vegetation growing in the shallow water of the 
delta, where the Lerma comes in and sends some floating islands, often an acre 
in extent, out into the lake. The town of Chapala, on the north shore, is pictur- 
esquely located under the towering cliffs of the mountain, and has long been a 
health resort of the natives, on account of the very hot springs that are there, 
which have a high reputation for their curative properties; the waters, clear as 
f crystal, gush from under the rocks on the mountain 
' < . , side. Continuing the journey by rail, west from 

La Barca, the track comes to 
the river again and crosses it, 
after it has left the lake, near 
Ocotlan. From the win- 
dows on the right there is 
to be seen a fine old Span- 
ish bridge of many arches, 
near Poncitlan, and from 
the left there is another 
glimpse of the lake. The 
stream here is more en- 
titled to the name of river 
than most of the Mexican 
rios are. They are mostly 
brooks or creeks, are en- 
tirely dry, except in the 
rainy season, when they 
are roaring, raging tor- 
rents; but this is a river 
that makes a leap of 
nearly a hundred feet 
over the rocks at Juana- 
catlan. 

El Castillo is the sta- 
tion for the Falls of 
Juanacatlan, the Niagara 
of Mexico, and, though a 
somewhat smaller edition 
is not unlike the world's 
greatest cataract. Horse cars — 
or rather mule cars- — run from 
PLAZA, cuERNAVACA. thc statiou to the falls. The 

mules go in a gallop, and the trip — one of only about four miles — is accomplished 
in about twenty minutes; a trip to the fall is one of the things to do. The immense 
water power, that for centuries has been owned by one of the prominent families of 
Mexico, was utilized only to turn the wheels of a mill until very recently, when an 
electric light plant was put in, and from this point the lights of Guadalajara are 
supplied. Water-falls are not common in Mexico ; it is only the rainy season 
that water falls to any alarming extent. There are cascades and cataracts that 
are not all in your eye, so to speak, here, there and everywhere, that are not 
always useful or ornamental for the one requisite of water, but Juanacatlan is a 
beauty and a joy that goes on forever in the rainy season and out of it. 




179 




AQUEDUCT AT CHIHUAHUA. 



The first glimpse of Guadalajara is to be had from the windows on the right 
hand, looking forward. The towers begin to peep over the hills, and a little 
further on those of San Pedro can also be seen north of the track. While you 
watch these, the train is rolling on up the grade, and in a few minutes is passing 
the outlying gardens of the very beautiful city of Guadalajara. 

Eastward to Tampico. — One writer on Mexico advises one to come to the 
country by sea and proceed from the lowlands to the highlands, with the idea 
that this is the best from a scenic point of view — to go upward and let the scene 
grow upon you. I don't think so, but rather to come from the broad table-lands 
to an abrupt jumping-ofE place and look down, even over the tops of other 
mountains, lower hills and sloping plains, away to the sea, and let the picture 
fade in its mists. To my mind this is a picture that no pencil can paint nor pen 
portray. It is often thus in Mexico, and particularly so in this ride eastward to 
Tampico. The Tampico division of the Mexican Central Railway leaves the 
main line at Aguas Calientes, at least this is the nominal junction point where 
trains are made up and where passengers change cars, when that is necessary, 
but the actual point of junction is at Chicolote, nine miles north, to where trains 
run on the main line and then switch off to the east-bound track. 

The road passes through a fertile irrigated country. The waters taken from 
the verdure fringed streams of the valleys are made almost to run up hill, it 
seems, and they do not run much higher anywhere in the world, for these fields 
of maguey and nopal cactus are nearly 8000 feet above the sea. The maguey of 
this region is used for the manufacture of mescal. The plant is very much smaller 
than the pulque-maguey of southern Mexico; it runs to root and it is from the 
root that the mescal is distilled. The nopal, or, as it is called sometimes, the 
prickly pear, grows here in the densest thickets. It bears a really palatable 
fruit that is a staple article of food with the natives, who also use the leaves to 
feed to cattle, the thorns having first been taken off by slightly singeing in the fire. 

The only place of importance between Aguas Calientes and San Luis Potosi is 
Las Salinas de la Pehya Blanca, a place of 5000 people, near the station of Salinas, 
where one of the greatest deposits of salt in the world is located; the immense 
product is shipped to all parts of the country. The hacienda of the Errasu 
family, the owners of this immense estate, is very like a castle of the olden times, 
with its moat, draw-bridge, portcullis and all; the walls are as thick as those of a 



180 

fortress and have their watch-towers and port holes. This was all very necessary 
in the earlier days of bandits in Mexico. For several years just previous to the 
completion of the railway, the production of salt was pushed to the fullest 
capacity, so that there were thousands and thousands of tons ready for shipment 
when the road was completed, and now there are required several miles of side- 
tracks to reach the vats and warehouses. 

After Salinas the descent commences, and it is more than average down-grade 
from here to Tampico, and it is simply rolling over one hill after another, down 
to San Luis Potosi. It is an impressive view of the city, as the train comes down 
from the highlands, enters the city from the north, through a wide avenue, 
and" stops in the handsome stone station that fronts the alameda, almost in the 
city's center. 

Leaving San Luis Potosi, the road crosses the Mexican National Railroad, on 
the outskirts of the city, and by the steady and gradual slope of the plain, runs down 
nearly 1500 feet in forty-seven miles, to Villar. The descent to the coast is by a 
series of terraces; each terrace has its range of hills on the outward edge, which 
makes this region peculiarly picturesque. It will be noticed that the east side of 
these hills is covered with trees, while the west slope is comparatively bare. 
Here and there these table-lands are cut through by canons, and down through 
them tumbles the water, in a thousand cascades, from terrace to terrace, from 
one table-land to another, on down to the sea. 




TAJO DE NOCHISTONGO. MEXICAN CENTRAL RAILWAY. 



181 



From Villar to Las Tablas is another drop in the track of about 1500 feet, 
and then it is a little up-grade to Cardenas. The run has been through the beau- 
tiful SanYsidroValley; the track has twisted and turned about the mountain slopes. 
The drop has been so gradual as to be hardly noticed, and if you have thought 
the scenery grand, as it indeed is, do not exhaust your adjectives; they will be 
needed a little further on, where yp.u can exhaust all that are in all the languages 
of the world, over these, the grandest views of the world. 

From Cardenas to Las Canoas is only fourteen miles, but the drop is about 700 
feet, through the very lovely valley where there is verdure bright and green. Las 
Canoas, being interpreted, means "the canoes," not that there are any canoes 
hereabouts, nor are any needed, nor is there water enough to float one; there is 
water enough, but not in any one place, and it is too much on the slant, falling in 
a hundred cascades. Las Canoas is simply a little canoe of a valley and the 
prettiest one in the world, because there is no other just exactly like it — "a grassy- 
bottomed cup, closed in by precipitous mountains, from which strange formations 
of fantastically disposed rocks reach out into the even ground." One rock near the 
road, just above the station, seems a gigantic stage setting for the depicting of 
some scene in old Scotland, though Scotland has no such rocks and hills as these. 

You may see the pretty little 
cup of a valley while the 
train stops at the station; it 
is only a little one, and one 
look around will cover it, 
though it induces to dwell 
upon its very loveliness. 
Just ahead there, is the be- 
ginning of the great Canon 
of the Tamsopo. There in- 
deed is the veritable "jump- 
ing-off place." There, at 
that switch, you can see the 
rails bend downward over 
the edge of the canon — a 
switch with a signal arm so 
long that it extends across the track; no train or 
engine can pass it without throwing it down, and the train off the rails. The place 
is one of such importance that even human watchfulness is not to be trusted, as a 
car or train once beyond control, and beyond this switch, would be lost, but this is a 
safety switch that saves. It is always thrown to a side track that runs out on a level 
place and averts any possibility of an accident; the switch is never opened except 
while a train is passing, and is closed instantly by the ever attendant watchman. 
This is a pretty valley indeed, but there are grander scenes just beyond. Such 
feats of engineering as you have never dreamed of, no matter what railroad you 
have traveled over. The beauties and the wonders of it are wholly indescribable 
and beyond compare. A seat on the left, or north side, of the car is the best; the rear 
platform, however, is the vantage point if you must travel by train. But if by any 
possible chance you have an opportunity to roll down the canon on "the trolleys," 
do it. It is an experience of a lifetime, which the longest life will not forget. The 
trolley is what would be called, anywhere else, a hand-car, closely resembling 
the work-car of a section gang, but provided with a powerful brake, that the 
simple turning with the fingers will bring in contact with all the wheels in an 
instant; in fact it is only the experienced hand that prevents the trolley-car from 
stopping so quickly as to throw the occupants forward. There are seats for five 
, persons on each car, and there are only two trolleys, so the equipment has not 




GUADALAJARA, 



182 




183 

been arranged with a view to a large patronage, but if there were hotels at either 
end of the canon, I think their number would have to be largely increased. And I, 
since I have traveled on the trolleys, would not have missed it, if I had to camp 
out at both ends of the ride. There is an untrammeled view, forward and back- 
ward, up the steep mountain side, thousands of feet, down the deep depths of 
the canon, thousands of feet, and across the awful chasm, to the heights and 
cliffs beyond, with no narrow windows or door to curtail the magnificent grandeur 
of the view. This is travel by trolley, down the great canon of Tamasopo, but the 
average traveler must be content with the Pullman car. 

The throttle of the engine is hardly opened to give the wheels a turn at Las 
Canoas, when it is closed, and not opened again until the mouth of the canon is 
reached, seventeen miles away, and no steam is used except for the brakes. One 
hour and twenty-seven minutes are used to travel these seventeen miles that 
might be done in ten minutes of real hurry, if there were no curves on the track. 
The slow time is for safety's sake, and the danger has been brought to a mini- 
mum, so that it is not thought of; in fact, there is little thought of anything but 
the wonderful road and its wonderful scenery. 

At the head of the canon the little river jumps off in a pretty cascade, tum- 
bles over the rocks, foams and frets over the great boulders, for some hundreds of 
feet, then dives into the ground and is seen no more for several miles. In the 
rainy season there is such a volume of water that it cannot pass through the 
underground passage, but runs over what is now the dry bed of the canon. 

The canon widens and the view grows grandly. Here and there the track is 
held by great walls of stone, and coming to some jutting crag too sharp, too abrupt 
to build around, a tunnel is cut through. In one place there are three withm 
a few feet of each other, so that a train of ten cars would be in three tunnels at 
one time. In our mountains and caves there are pulpits, chairs and slides 
described as the Devil's, but the Devil's Backbone is here on the Mexican Central, 
in the Tamasopo Canon, and there is a hole through it big enough for a railroad 
train to pass. Passing from the darkness of one of these tunnels into the 
broad light of brightest day, the marvelous view bursts upon the vision with 
no warning of its stupendous immensity. Perpendicularly down, more than a 
thousand feet, is the density of tropical green that is shaded lighter up the moun- 
tain side, and in a thousand hues, as the sunlight faljs upon them at this angle or 
that. Over on the other mountain, the bright spots of lighter green are patches of 
sugar, and here, below our track, is the delicate pink of the rosewood tree; each 
tree seems as one huge posy, so thick the blossoms are. Faraway over the other 
mountains, far away over the other valleys, the panorama, it seems, stretches to 
infinity, and while we hear the rushing of the waters, so far below, we think we 
can see the waters of an aerial river, or the distant seas where earth and air are 
lost in their intermingling. These mountains are unlike those of the interior, 
being covered with a tropical verdure, fed by the constantly blowing mists from 
the sea, while the valleys are luxuriantly rich in the density of the full tropical 
foliage, and what we see here, we have not seen before in all our travels in 
Mexico, or other lands we may have traveled in, for there is not its equal in 
varied beauty or difficulty of engineering accomplishment. 

There are six tracks in view, as the road twists and turns down towards the 
valley, that we seem never to get nearer to, and in one place a track seems just 
under us, though we must travel six miles before we reach the spot in view. It 
was here that, on that famous trip of the trolleys, we lost our Mexican attendant, 
who had gone back as a flagman against a possibly following train, and we left 
him behind, as we thought, but not if he knew himself, his country and our lunch 
basket, of which latter he had had a taste. He simply clambered down the rocks 
and sat down to rest while we rolled off our six miles and caught up with him. 



184 



If ever Joseph's brethren had let him down into this pit of St. Joseph — this 
Hoyo de San Jose in the Tamasopo Canon — he would never have gotten out to 
distinguish himself either in Egypt or anywhere else. It is said to be bottomless. 

It is in evidence that various and 

sundry burros, whose misfortunes 
forced them over the brink, never 
returned, and that place whence 
no burro returns has no stopping 
place of even the narrowest pro- 
portions, and where a burro can- 
not climb must partake of the 
perpendicular, or of a polished 
surface. Indeed, this Hoyo de 
San Jose is a wonderful hole-in- 
the-ground, where rivers of water 
empty their torrents in the rainy 
season. There is no outlet, and 
the pit does not fill up, then is it 
not bottomless, qtiieii sabe? The 
railroad must describe a figure 
8 to get around the pit, and just 
west of it is established a little 
station and another safety switch 
that is always set for the side 
track. Here now are the full 
tropics, as you have dreamed of 
them — great giant trees, with 
hanging vines from the highest 
blanches. These and the trees 
are covered with orchids, that 
flourish in the moisture of the 
mists from the sea. This almost 
unpenetrable forest is a dense 
mass of verdure, from the top- 
most branches to the ferns that 
grow in their shade. A little 
farther on, the wild undergrowth 
has been cleared away. This 
may not be apparent, at first, as 
there seems to be, and there is 
still, an undergrowth of — coffee 
trees. The road runs through 
the midst of one of the finest 
coffee plantations, and if there is 
time to stop at the little platform 
on the left of the track, you may 
walk through it, and down a 
thousand steps to the Puente de 
Dios, where a rushing mountain 
stream leaps in a flying cascade 
into a beautiful pool, passes out of view, and appears again in other pretty pools 
below this Bridge of God. If the scenery here is not so wild, so grandly pictu- 
resque, it is not the less interesting; passing from the forest and the coffee groves 
the road comes to an open space and a comparatively level spot where the tim- 




CHOY CAVE MEXICAN CENTRAL RAILWAY. 



185 



ber has been cut away. On the right is a village of the timber cutters, a group of 
thatched huts that, until now, you may not have seen except in pictures, as much 
a tropical village, both as to architecture and fashion of dress, as you will see. 

Here, on the left of the road, is a river fringed with palms and palmettos. The 
road follows along its banks to Rascon, now a little railroad town where trains 
are made up, and great heavy double-header engines are kept to take them up 
the mountain. Just out of Rascon the river is crossed and the grade is downward 

to Valles, then up a short distance to 
another canon, not so great as the one 
just passed, but with one view at least, 




A RESIDENCE OF GUANAJUATO. 

it is worth them all to see. It is the Canon del Abra de Caballeros, and the grand 
view is of El Salto del Abra de Caballeros at the Boca del Abra. The view is 
from the left or north windows of the cars, or best from the rear platform. The 
track comes to the head of the canon and runs along high on the mountain side. 
The river comes to view only a little below the roadway, but for a mile or more the 
marvelously colored waters fall in one cascade over another till there is a score or 
more — some more than a hundred feet in height — all the time in full view from 
the cars; the roar of the lower falls cannot be heard from the depth so far below. 



186 



**^mAi^^ieK' 



Here, at the mouth of the canon, from the high point where the track is, is the 
most magnificent picture I ever saw. There is a greater fall of water at Niagara, 
but the high towering peaks are here at El Salto del Abra, and here is a cascade 
of three hundred feet, and a chain of them more than a mile long. The composi- 
tion of the landscape is simply superb; there are neither words to describe it and 
no pencil, however deft, can paint its beauties. The color is of nature's own and 
in her brihgtest hues. On the other side of the canon a towering peak is 3,000 
feet high, its sides precipitously drop down in gray rocks to the water's edge, 
washed by the torrent that goes on forever, and the cliffs are whitened by the 
filmy white foam that rises in mists from this home of the cascades. Back beyond 
the beginning of the falls, another and a higher mountain raises its head loftily. 
If you can, persuade your conductor to stop a minute — a minute here is worth an 
hour anywhere else in the world where a railroad runs — only a minute for the 
very grandeur of it. 

I stood there and gazed rapturously. I asked for another minute, but I was 
called back to earth from the pinnacle to where I had soared. I took that 
minute, and my rifle from the car, with the thought to see if it would carry to the 
cliffs beyond. I fired a shot, and a thousand parrots, startled, flew screaming, 
.-ft,..-^-. circling around above and below 

us, settling down again in the trees 
where their dwelling places are. 

While these minutes were flying, 
the one great picture had so filled 
the eye that not one look was 
taken ahead. Here the canon 
widens out and we look abroad, 
over a hundred miles of sloping 
plain, with undulating hills that 
lie between us and the sea. Still, 
however, we are skirting along 
the sides of high mountains in 
which there are many caves. 
One, La Ventana, has a cham- 
ber that is nearly 700 feet high. 
The name comes from an open- 
ing or window near the top that may be seen a long way off, in the mountain 
side. To reach La Ventana requires a walk of several miles, but another, Choy 
Cave is Immediately under the track; in fact, a bridge is built over the skylight 
of this cavern, and steps have been made down to the entrance two hundred feet 
below, from which comes a stream of clear, cold water. The chamber of Choy 
Cave is over 200 feet high and with steps and passage ways along the subter- 
ranean river that is nearly a hundred feet deep. Downward the grade is, with 
plains and the biggest Mexican rivers to see and cross, the rivers Tamesi and 
Panuco, near Tamos. Near the line are the ruins of an ancient Aztec city that 
cover some miles of territory, so that it must have been a populous capital. These 
cities of the ancients of Mexico are not to be seen from the cars, but the more 
curious and venturesome tourist will find a field to interest him and worth his 
while to explore, though he must camp out; there is not even a fonda for frijoles 
or tortillas, and only jacals for shelter. 

We came down from these grand mountains to the sea, and when we stopped at 
Tampico it was night, the car was rolled out on the jetties, and while the breezes 
of the Gulf fanned us, we listened to the lullaby of the waves, and dreamed of 
mountains miles and miles in height, that the sea beat against and came down 
over their tops in a cascade as wide as the ocean. 





SPANISH BRIDGE NEAR OCOTLAN. MEXICAN CENTRAL RAILWAY. 



187 

Eastward Over the Mexican Railway — The first railway of Mexico was 
built from Vera Cruz to the City of Mexico, and, long before any of the others 
were finished, the fame of this one went abroad, and all over the world the 
wonders of its engineering feats, and the magnificence of its scenery, was told, till 
people crossed the seas with no other object than to look upon its beauties, and 
the wondrous work of its building. It is easier of access now, and there are 
thousands of travelers that start eastward from the capital, or westward from the 
Gulf, with the same object in view. 

Passing out of the fine station of Buena Vista, the track takes a northerly 
course from the City of Mexico, and runs along the solid roadbed of an ancient 
causeway, trod by pilgrims to the shrine of Guadalupe for more than three 
centuries, and on either side of the track stand the shrines where the processions 
halted, and weary wayfarers worshiped. Along the east side of the track is the 
more modern road of foot travel, and the line of horse cars, from the city to the 
shrine. Under the shadow of Guadalupe the track turns somewhat to the east; 
on the left is the village, the great church, the stone sails, and the chapel on the 
hill all to be seen from the cars. 

There is little choice of seats just here. On the right there are views of the 
city, the lake and plain, and the great volcanoes. Popocatepetl and IxtaccihuatI 
are constantly in view, then Malintzi, and then Orizaba. In two hundred miles there 
are snow-capped mountains always in sight. On the right is Lake Texcoco, on the 
left Lake San Cristobal, and on either side may be seen the great drainage works 
that are to drain the water from these lakes, and reclaim the lands of the valley. 

Near San Juan Teotihuacan are the Pyramids of the Sun and Moon, seen from 
the windows on the left. Not very formidable pyramids, as seen from the cars, 
but the "Sun" is 216, and the "Moon" 151 feet high; the former more than half 
as large as the great Cheops of Egypt. Between the two pyramids is a cause- 
way, called the Street of the Dead, also seen from the cars. 

At Otumba is the field of battle between Cortez and the Mexicans, July 8, 
1520, during the retreat after the defeat of the Noche Triste. 

These scenes left behind, and after passing Ometusco, the junction point for 
Pachuca, the course is southeastward, across an almost level table-land, to the 
Plain of Apam, where the pulque grows, the track passing through fields and 
fields of thousands and thousands of acres of the immense plants that an Ameri- 
can would call "century " plants. The Apam pulque is the best, or, perhaps it is 
better to say, the favorite, with those who drink pulque, and if you have not 
made the experiment, you will find no better place to try it than at Apam. The 
dealers meet all trains. 

The pulque traffic is a source of great revenue to the railway companies. 
Regular trains, carrying nothing but pulque, leave the stations in the region from 
one to three o'clock in the morning, running on fast time, reaching the city 
between five and six o'clock. The barrels and hogskins are tum.bled out onto the 
Custom House platform, the duty paid, and a hundred carts and cargadores take 
it to the " shops," all over the city. Pulque will not keep, and the Mexican knows 
it. He hurries it onto the train, and rushes it to the place of sale, drinks it and 
goes back after another load. From the fields to the "shops" it is not more 
than a day. When the plant is about to send up the long slender shoot that 
bears the bloom of the century plant, the bud is cut out, and in the basin formed 
the sap gathers, and is taken out by a man, with a long slender gourd. With his 
lips he withdraws the air from the gourd, and the crude pulque fills it, and is 
poured into the hogskin on his back, which, when full, is loaded on a burro or 
cart, taken to the hacienda, and after a quick process of fermentation, it is ready 
for the pulque train and the market. 

At Soltepec all four of the great peaks may be seen in one grand sweep of the 



188 



vision. At Apizaco the branch line extends south to the city of Puebla, passing 
Santa Ana, the station for the ancient city of Tlaxcala. Along the branch are 
some points of scenic interest. On the right, after leaving the station, is the 
Church of Santa Cruz, a little further on, on the left, the grand old mountain, 
Malintzi, in the distance, and near the road a little canon and a cascade, whose 
waters supply the power for a woolen mill. After crossing some barrancas, the 
train makes a stop at Santa Ana, from whence street cars run to Tlaxcala. The 
towers of its churches are seen from the windows on the right, and in a little 
while, from these same windows, may be seen the Pyramid of Cholula, and a 
look ahead will show the towers of Puebla and the old forts on the hills 
beyond. 

Buy canes at Apizaco; canes of all the woods that grow in Mexico. They are 
on sale on the station platform, along with the cakes, pies and pulque. You can 
buy one, or a cord, for it seems here is a solution of the timberless hills of the 
country; they have been stripped by the cane makers of Apizaco. There are 
large canes and small, cut and carved in designs fantastic, painted in all the 
colors of the rainbow and of the flowers that grow. Canes for the old man, the 
dude, and the small boy. It is Apizaco's admonition, that if any man passes that 
way, and afterward goes down to his grave caneless, it is his own fault. There is 
a good restaurant and buffet in the station, and there is usually time to buy canes 
and coffee, during the time of transfer of passengers and baggage for Puebla. 

Leaving Apizaco, the course of the main line is slightly to the southeast, and in 
a few miles the highest point on the line, 8333 feet, is reached. The road runs at 
the base of old Mount Malintzi, and, passing the foot-hills, comes to San Andres, 
where passengers desiring to make the ascent of the volcano of Orizaba change 
cars. Now the scenery becomes more interesting, as the track winds in and out 
among the hills, a seeming prelude to the grandeur, just ahead, that no words 
are adequate to describe. 

Esperanza is the stopping place at the edge of the great terrace of the table- 
land, 8043 feet above the sea, where commences the descent to the tierra caliente. 
At Esperanza the Mexican Railway maintains extensive yards and shops, and 
hence, southward, a horse-car line runs to Tehuacan. The 
station building combines ticket and tele- 
graph offices, a good re- 
staurant and comfortable 
hotel. It is not much of 
a pull for the engine to 
'-^^j^sJlSKl^" „, make the start out of 

- Esperanza yards. The 

loosening of the brake 
will sometimes start the train, 
without the opening of the 
throttle. The wheels 



begin to turn, and the 
only steam needed 
will be to slow up, or 
stop thetrain. With 
only little stretches 
of up-grade, it is a 
roll from Esperanza 
to Vera Cruz. The 
drop from the yards 
here to Maltrata, six- 
teen miles, is 2493 




MEXICAN RAILWAY STATION, CORDOBA. 



189 

feet, and from Maltrata, (5550 feet in altitude,) to Orizaba, 3943 feet. The slip 
down is 1607 feet in thirteen miles, making a total descent of 4100 feet in twenty- 
nine miles. 

A seat on the right of the car is to be chosen. The incline of the train can be 
felt, as it moves toward Boca del Monte, the "mouth of the mountain," and here 
commences the grandest piece of scenery — one of the grand views of the world. 
On one side, the towering mountains — the road is only a little shelf hewn in the 
rocks — on the other, down a thousand feet or more, is a rushing stream, foaming 
and fretting over the rocks and boulders, at the bottom of a yawning canon, and 
beyond it, mountains as high as this on whose side the train crawls along. 
Whether the engineers sought the spot near La Bota as the most available for a 
water supply, or, in commendable forethought, placed the tank here that the 
people might enjoy the view, while water is taken, the deponent saith not, but 
the thanks of every traveler are due for the placing of the tank where it is, what- 
ever may have been the motive. Without any warning, or prelude of the 
grandeur, the magnificence, the surpassing beauty of the picture, it bursts upon 
the vision. A bridge over an awful chasm inspires awe, and a tunnel shuts the 
eyes to its depths, for a moment only, and then, as in the sudden lifting of a 
curtain, from darkness to daylight, displays the picture that no pencil paints. 

Here the engine stops for water, a prosaic reason for such a poetic pleasure in 
the looking on such a view, and demands the traveler's gratitude. 

No window is broad enough for its scope, and a doorway is all too narrow. 
Every passenger is out and down on the narrow space between the rails and edge 
of the cafion. There is Maltrata, a dozen miles away, to follow the rails, yet we 
look down on the red tiles of the roofs; the round tower of the village church 
gleams in the sunshine, two thousand feet straight down below your feet; the 
streets, gardens, houses, look like the toys from a child's play-box, and the people 
are only pigmies. The green fields are like a checker-board, spread out in the 
valley. You may look beyond the valley, to the other mountains, look ahead to 
some others, and see above them the snow-tipped peak of Orizaba; or try to 
follow the silver thread of the stream in the valley, or the shining rails of the 
track, winding down the mountain. You may for a moment traffic with the 
Indians for the most beautiful orchids, but the gem of the view is in the valley 
right under you, and your furtive glances come back to this jewel of a valley. 
La Joya, till it is indelibly fixed in your mind as the most beautiful picture you 
ever saw. 

The object of the stop is accomplished, whether it was for water for the engine, 
or for you to see the view, and the train rolls on. Regretfully, perhaps, you think 
of the orchids, that you failed to purchase; surely, those very orchids were worth 
as many dollars in your own country as the Indians demanded in cents. And 
you wondered, perhaps, why they refused your offer, held them at the original 
price, and, unlike all the other Indians everywhere else, would not take less. 
Just wait a little while, and you may have another chance at these same orchids. 
While the train is running its dozen miles, curving in and out on the hillside, 
there is a rough-and-tumble scramble of these Indians, two thousand feet down 
the rocks, and the same orchids that you didn't buy will be at the station at 
Maltrata when you get there; and as that is the last chance for the Indian to sell 
to-day, you may be able to buy at your own price. 

Crossing the little valley of Maltrata, keep your seat on the right of the car. 
The road enters a canon, called " Infernillo," the ravine of the "little hell," which, 
barring the absence of any superfluous heat, seems to be properly named, and 
the railway builders must have had that sort of a time in running their lines 
through such a place. There is a bridge 140 feet high, with a sheer precipice 
above and below, with the mountain stream falling down the chasm in a roaring 



190 

cascade. Through a tunnel, and out at the other end, is another beautiful valley, 
the Valley of the Cascades. The road runs down through the center of it, passing 
Nogales, and coming to Orizaba. There are fine views on either side, but the 
towns and villages are on the north of the road. 

Orizaba is on the border of the tropic lands, and the scenery hence is unlike 
any left behind. The finest views are on — both sides. The rear platform is the 
best position, as from there nothing should be missed. Running through the palm- 
shaded street, the road goes into the cane and coffee fields. The volcano is in 
the view, and the hill on the left, overlooking the city, is the Cerro del Borrego, 
where a small body of French held at bay a much larger force of Mexicans, 
during the Maximilian war. 

After six or seven miles, the line enters the Barranca de Metlac. The choice 
of seats is on the right, to see the deep ravine, and the Rio Metlac, nearly a 
thousand feet below. Here an immense horseshoe curve takes the track around 
the head of the valley, over a curved bridge, on the other side of which is an 
ascending grade to Fortin, then down hill to Cordoba. The view down the river 
is a pretty one indeed, the old stone bridge of the highway in the foreground, and 
the bluest of blue hills in the distance. 

The town of Cordoba is on the north of the track. It might be seen from the 
cars, but for the dense tropical forest intervening. It may seem to you that all 
the inhabitants are at the station, dressed in their best suits of clothes — bright 
and clean, wide of trouser, and broad of straw sombrero, and brightly-colored 




ABOVE MALTRATA, MEXICAN RAILWAY. 



191 



costume of woman's dress. Here the tropic Mexican appears, in all his pictur- 
esqueness, as he is seen in pictures. 

On down the hill, the road runs through coffee plantations, fields of sugar-cane 
and tropic forests of palm and palmetto, groves of oranges, gardens of mangoes, 
pineapples and bananas, from whence come the luscious fruits brought to the 
cars at Cordoba. 

Through some tunnels, and over bridges, the road drops down into the Atoyac 
Valley, and crosses the river of that name, just beyond the station, and just after 
leaving it. On the right, after the tunnel is passed, is another beautiful view, with 
a cascade falling from the hill over the rocks, splashing the water to snowy foam, 
and making a silver ribbon through the deep valley below. Passing the bridge 
Chiquihuite, and that of San Alejo, the road comes to Paso del Macho, where the 
mountain scenery is left behind, and with a few more twists and turns, takes a 
due eastward course across the slope to Vera Cruz. 

Westward Over the International. — It makes little differ- 
ence at what point the traveler comes to the border, his curious 
eyes will look with wonder before he crosses the bridge over the 
narrow, sluggish, muddy little creek that forms the boundary 
between the United States and Mexico — a creek that does not 
seem to have grown a bit since it left El Paso, unless it be in mud 
and murkiness, and why it was ever called the Rio Grande nobody 
but the man who named it will ever know. Perhaps the dis- 
coverer came upon it unawares on a rainy day during the wet 
season, certainly not on such a day as when I saw it first, when 
it seemed there was hardly water enough and hardly current 
enough to carry the mud along. 

One does not look at the river, though, but to the hills beyond 
— the bleak and barren hills that came to view when you are a 
hundred miles away across the Texas prairies. And 
yet one does not see Mexico in these hills — only where 
Mexico is. Beyond the hills, in table-lands, fertile 
valleys and old-time cities with domed and towered 
churches, is Mexico. 

At Spofford Junction, on the main line of the Southern 
Pacific, a division of the road makes a detour to the 
southwestward, and comes to the border at Eagle Pass, 
where the connection is with the Mexican International 
Railroad. The town on the Texas side is Eagle Pass; 
at the other end of the steel bridge it is La Ciudad 
Porfirio Diaz. The original name of the town, Piedras 
Negras, was changed, in honor of the President of 
Mexico. Since the opening of the line, in March, 1888, 
and the establishment of the railroad headquarters 
here, the towns have grown, till they now number about 
AT LERDo. 6,000 people. The altitude is 722 feet above the sea, 

and healthfulness is conceded. The higher elevations are not far away, and the 
climb to them commences at the river, reaching 1,200 feet, at Nava, in twenty- 
four miles, and, still on the rising grade, the road passes AUende, Leonora, Peyotes 
and Blanco, places of i,aoo to 1,500 people. At Sabinas there is a branch to the 
coal mines of Hondo and Felipe. The supply of bituminous coal is practically 
inexhaustible. A branch line to Lampazos is proposed to be extended from the 
coal mines. After crossing the Rio Sabinas, the average is up-grade to Monclova, 
where the altitude is 1,926 feet. Monclova is one of the very many very old towns 
in Mexico, that have made very little headway in population or advancement, 




192 



and the primitiveness of it is its novelty. Near the city is a rich mine of mag- 
netic iron, and the whole region, round about, is rich in the more precious metals. 
The direction hence is almost due south, to Trevifio, the junction point with the 
Monterey & Mexican Gulf Railway for Monterey, and the Gulf at Tampico. At 
Jaral the road reaches an elevation of 3,753 feet, and runs within about thirty miles 
of Saltillo, the capital of Coahuila, to which point a branch line is proposed. 
There is a look of utter desolation in these hills, but there are valleys between, 
where there are fertile lands, and where herds and flocks are grazing. 

Now the road takes a more westerly course, runs along the table-lands and 
comes to Paila, where the altitude is 3.898 feet. A few miles to the south of the 
line is the very ancient town of Parras, one of the oldest in Mexico, having been 
founded some three hundred and fifty years ago. The location is superb, 




GUADALUPE, NEAR ZACATECAS. 

renowned for its healthfulness, in the midst of a fine grape country. The wines 
of Parras are sold in almost every Mexican city and are rated high. They are 
made in both clarets and sauternes. When the Parras branch is completed the 
old town may take a new lease of life. 



193 




ALTAR, SANTUARIO DE GUADALUPE, DURANGO. 



The course is now westward, running a little north of Lake Parras, a typical 
Mexican lake about 3,600 feet above the sea level, and north of the line is the 
larger lake, Mayran. It is a level track now along the southern borders of the 
great Bblson de Mapimi until Torreon is reached, where connection is made with 
the Mexican Central Railway; the elevation, here, is 3,721 feet. 

Torreon is near the Nazas River, the great irrigating ditch of this territory, 
and three miles north is the city of Lerdo in the midst of Mexico's most famous 
cotton regions, where 'tis said the cotton grows on trees. Proceeding westward 
on the International it is only five miles to the lovely San Juan Valley where the 
train rounds a curve and rolls into the oasis. The high point of rocks on the left 
forms the gateway, and to the other side of the track the valley stretches away to 
the north. It is a pretty valley, is the San Juan, and they have made the waters 
of it run around its borders on the hillsides, and through aqueducts of stone, till 
it is high enough to irrigate the fields. It looks as though these Indian engi- 
neers had made the water run up hill; we crossed the stream back there, and 
here it is on a level with our windows. 

Across the valley the rows of trees show which way the river runs, and dotted 
here and there, little patches of white mark the village and hacienda, with the 
fertile fields in between and growing grain nearly ready for the harvest. They 
have two harvests each year in this valley, when they would not have one, per- 
haps, if they waited for the rains, but the blessed little river stands in the rain- 
maker's place. 

All the mountains in Mexico are cut in fantastic shapes, but here, on this road, 
a freakful nature seems to have outdone herself, or perhaps, this road gives us a 
closer view of the rocks and crags that look like castles or a herd of some huge 
monsters outlined against the sky. 



194 



Some miles below there is a cave (any conductor will point out the place; a 
black hole in the hill on the north side), a veritable robbers' cave, where the 
bandits buried their dead, or came to hide themselves and count the proceeds of 
business in the old diligencia days. The robbers are not there now, but there are 
the relics of them in skulls and bones. The cave is high upon the almost per- 
pendicular sides of the mountain and the opening is just large enough for a man 
to drop himself into a chamber twenty-five feet long, and as wide, with six or 
eight feet from floor to ceiling and a narrow opening to another smaller room. 
The darkness can almost be felt, and the dust of ages, a foot thick on the floor, 
makes the place uninviting. A friendly Mexican match will give a glimpse of 
the glittering stalactites; on the floor and against the sides of the chamber are 
the evidences of the robber story, and a skull or two may be added to your col- 
lection of curios from this curious country. Long drouths parch the country, but 
the land is fertile, even without rain, and irrigation is a science in Mexico. The 
stranger wonders what there is to support the haciendas that are as big as a town. 
"Can anything grow here?" some one asks. "Nothing is impossible in Mexico. 
See that palm tree over there in that hacienda; it is the only one within three 
hundred miles, and where the palm grows there is life in the land." This is truth, 
the palm is there and there is not another this side of Tampico. 




ENTRANCE TO SAN JUAN VALLEY, MEXICAN INTERNATIONAL RAILROAD. 



195 

On the south of the road, a little farther on, is an extinct volcano that is near 
the track, some four or five hundred feet high, and if there was time for the stop, 
it would be worth all the climb to look down into the awful crater, with its sides 
and depths crusted with the lava of a thousand years, or more it may have been. 
You can see the volcano from the cars as you pass by, but you must climb to the 
crater if you would see that. I might enlarge upon this story, as the train does 
not stop here and there is little chance to disprove, but the truth is enough to tell 
of anything in Mexico. 

The road now, is for the most part, across the plains; the everlasting hills sur- 
rounding it are never out of sight. There is an iron bridge across th^ bed of a 
river, now bone dry, that when you come back may be a rushing torrent. When 
it rains in Mexico, it rains; the showers may be few and far between, but when 
they come they make up for lost time. But, withal, there is life in this seemingly 
arid soil, else how came the trees that for miles along this plain make it look like 
one vast orchard? And there is water above ground, though your palace car 
point of observation may not disclose it, else where do they drink and how get a 
sustenance — these herds of horses and cattle ? Across the spreading plain is the city 
of Durango afar off, the towers rising above the low-roofed, square-topped houses. 
Beyond the city, and overlooking it, is a high hill with the Church of Los 
Remedios on its very top. A golden sunset makes the background of gorgeous 
hue, and while you watch its beauties the train rolls down to the station, where 
the people wait your coming just as they waited for those that came yesterday. 

The train comes to an anchor at the pretty stone station, and almost under the 
shadow of the wonderful iron mountain that was one of the objects of the building 
of this road. A mountain of solid iron it is, the ore ranging from 75 to go per 
cent, of pure iron, and enough of it to supply the world for a hundred years. The 
completion of the railroad did not help the iron industry of Durango though. The 
little foundry that did a land-office business for so many years got thirty-five 
cents a pound for iron till the railroad came, and they found they could buy in 
Pittsburgh and ship to Durango for a great deal less than thirty-five cents. The 
old foundry, with its wooden machinery and water-power, has been replaced by 
a million-dollar smelter, and iron is cheaper now. 

A busy, bustling scene is at the station; coachmen call their destinations and 
fares, darting here and there to relieve some weary traveler of his baggage and, 
if he can, thrust him into his own particular coach, before the traveler can enter 
a word of protest. Private carriages are there in numbers, whose drivers, more 
dignified than the liverymen, assist their master, or their master's guests to transfer 
baggage, all the while conscious of the admiring glances cast upon them by 
groups of pretty Indian girls, who are there, as everybody else is, for the purpose 
of seeing the train come in, and catching, at the same time, a glimpse of these 
youths in embroidered suits and gaily tinseled sombreros. Your anticipation of 
seeing a city extremely primitive is not realized at the station. You stand under 
the shelter of a modern stone station, with its smooth grass plat, roses, green trees 
and graveled walks, and watch the scene before you, then glance beyond 
the throng, down the track over which you just passed, to see the substantial 
freight depots of the big stores and smelters, each one of which has its own 
private depot and side-track for handling freight, and wonder why they called 
Durango " primitive." 

It was a matter of small wonder that the ancient city of Jerusalem should be 
so long without railroad communication with the outer world, and the completion 
of the line from Joppa was only the talk of a day, but a city more than three 
hundred years old, and with nearly a hundred thousand inhabitants, on this con- 
tinent, and with a main line of railroad within a hundred and fifty miles of it, 
secured its first railroad since Jerusalem did. It was left to Durango to be the 




ALAMEDA, DURANGO. 



197 

last of the great cities of Mexico to have a railway, and it is still such a novelty 
in that city that the populace wait at the station for the arrival of the train in the 
late afternoon, and come down early in the morning' to see it pull out. 

It is to see this new, old city that attracts a journey down the line of the Inter- 
national Railway of Mexico ; this, and to see the newest primitiveness of Mexican 
city life before the women exchange their lace mantillas for Parisian bonnets, 
and the men strip the silver bangles from their trousers, and change the orna- 
mental, monogrammed sombrero for the silk tile. And I will be pardoned the 
suggestion, just here, that the primitiveness is fast fading, and he who would see 
Mexico as it has been written about, and dreamed of, should see it now. 




THE HACIENDA WATERWORKS. 

Eastward Over the Interoceanic — Leaving the City of Mexico from the 
handsome station of San Lazaro, the trains of the Interoceanic Railroad pass 
through the eastern outskirts of the city and come to the field of practice of the 
artillery school, with its adobe targets on the left of the track, and run along an 
ancient causeway that was once the high road between the capital of the Monte- 
zumas and the great city of the Tezcucans. On both sides of the track, and very 
close to it, are tall trees that make a shaded avenue for some miles, and such an 
avenue is on the roadway of no other line on earth. Looking back from the rear 
platform, it will be seen that the branches almost meet above the cars, and down 
the long vista seem to close the entrance where the train came in. 



198 



On the right is the canal of La Viga, Santa Anita, the hill Ixtapalapa, cele- 
brated in Aztec history, the extinct volcano of Ajusco, and, in the distance, 
Penon. On the left is Lake Texcoco; on the right, the waters and marshes of 
Xochimilco and Chalco. Turning around the southern shore of Lake Texcoco. 
road comes to Los Reyes, the junction of the Morelos 
Division with the main line, a picturesque 
Indian town, where the people bring 
fish to the trains to sell to the pas- 
sengers, as something out of the 
ordinary of train and station ped- 
dlers in Mexico, or, perhaps, any- 
where else. Skirting the eastern 
shore of the lake the road enters a 
fertile plain, where there are haci- 
endas, villages and churches without 
number. At the station of Chapingo 
is the hacienda of the late ex-Presi- 
dent, General Gonzales, on the north 
of the track a group of gorgeously 
painted houses, bearing an oriental 
look of towers and bright colors; on 
the right, almost opposite the haci- 
enda of Chapingo, is the village of 
Huixotla, with an old church and 
older ruins of Aztec origin. Texcoco 
is the town that in the old Toltec days 
was the rival of Tenochtitlan, or the 
City of Mexico, and the capital of a 
powerful nation. At Texcoco Cortez 
stopped to prepare his bergantities, with 
which to transport his army over the 
waters of the lake. Tetzconcinco, or the "laughmg hill," the favorite resort of 
Netzahualcoyotl, the Tezcucan chief, three miles east of Texcoco, may be seen 
from the windows on the left, and near it the trees that overshadow the Molino 
de Flores, and a little farther on is the aqueduct of the waters for these gardens 
and palaces of the chiefs of the olden times. 

The course is almost due north for some miles, to make a circuit of the foot- 
hills of the great volcanoes that are always in the view. At the little station of 
San Antonio, and between there and Metepec, there is a fine view of the Texcoco 
Valley, the lake, and beyond it the City of Mexico, forty miles away ; and also 
from the north windows, beyond Metepec, in the distance, are the pyramids of 
the Sun and Moon, which are older, perhaps, than Cheops of Egypt. 

At Otumba, Cortez met the army of the Aztecs in 1520, and drove them in 
retreat before him. At Irolo are two branch roads to Pachuca, and at San 
Lorenzo a branch to San Nicolas; for some miles the road runs through the 
pulque region, then starts on an up-grade, reaching an altitude of 9,000 feet near 
Nanacamilca, and then down on the other side, through a most picturesque dis- 
trict, passing along the mountain sides, through canons, and down to the depths 
of the barranca, with constantly changing scenes in every turn and curve, till it 
comes to the lovely valley of San Martin Texmelucan, with its streams of clear, 
sparkling water, shady woodlands, and boundless scenes of prosperity. 

Passing San Martin and Analco, the line enters the great plain and valley 
of Puebla, one of the richest in all Mexico ; the great haciendas here and there 
and everywhere are in evidence of its wealth. At Los Arcos is the junction of 




ENTRANCE OF THE INTEROCEANIC RAILWAY TO THE 
CITY OF MEXICO. 



199 




IXTACCIHUATL PROM AMECAMECA. 

the branch road to Matamoros. On the right is Cholula, the greatest of the 
Mexican pyramids; hence the road runs across the plain to Puebla. Leaving 
Puebla the road skirts the eastern slope of great Malintzi, and here is a view to 
be enjoyed perhaps nowhere else in the world, the road running through a tropic 
valley in sight of four snow-capped mountains — Popocatepetl and Ixtaccihuatl 
to the west, Malintzi in the foreground, and Orizaba far to the east. It is a fact 
that, in all the miles of all the divisions of the Interoceanic road, with scarcely an 
exception of half an hour's run, there is a snow-capped mountain always in the view. 
The route is now to the northeast, crossing the Mexican Railway at San 
Marcos, and coming to a well-watered plain that is just on the verge of the terrace 
that drops down to the hot lands. At Virreyes is a branch road to San Juan de 
los Llanos. On the right of the road, near Perote, is the old castle of Perote, an 
ancient fortress built by the Spaniards soon after the conquest, as a stopping 
place for rest, after the long pull up the mountain. Here was kept a laige garri- 
son of soldiers that patroled the road between Vera Cruz and Puebla in the old 
bandit days. 



200 



M»«i3^^ 




NEPANTUA, INTEROCEANIC RAILWAY. 



Las Vigas is on the very edge of the great terrace. If there is no mist in the 
valley, the view is grandly magnificent; or, you may look out over a sea of white 
clouds with the indescribable sensation of traveling by rail above them and 

through their filmy folds. The track is through 
an endless lava bed that is a confused mass of 
black rock, from a pebble to huge pieces of the 
weight of tons. It was a marvelous piece of engi- 
neering in the building of this road, and every 
crook and turn of its track seems to show greater 
difficulties overcome. At no place is the grade 
more than two and a half feet to the loo, which is 
remarkable, when the face of the country traversed 
is considered. The views are marvelous and be- 
yond compare. There is the white-faced Cofre 
de Perote, white-capped Orizaba, and the lesser 
hills sloping away to the Gulf, the waters of which, 
the ships and the white houses of Vera Cruz are a 
hundred miles away. It is a continual drop down 
till the train stops in the region of the full tropics, 
at the picturesque station of the ancient town of Jalapa, and thence the grade is 
still downward to Vera Cruz. 

Between Palmar and Colorado is a beautiful piece of railroad work, in the 
famous Huarumbo cutting, the deepest cut in Mexico, where the line makes 
almost a complete loop. Near Rinconada is a sugar-loaf mountain, Cerro Gordo, 
where one of the hardest fights of the American war was fought. It is a wonder- 
ful track along here. There are a hundred horse-shoe curves. At one place the 
track you are to pass over seems a thousand feet below you, the white rock of the 
ballast showing through the verdure of the intervening trees. Sometimes it is 
hard to tell whether that is the track just passed over or the one you are coming to. 
In one view there is a perfect replica of the Hudson palisades. 

Down at San Francisco the thatched houses of the tropics are shaded by 
feathery palm trees, and the straggling villages seem to have their residences de- 
signed chiefly for ventilation, with the walls of reeds and the roofs of palm leaves. 
Numberless streams from the moun- 
tains flowing to the sea are crossed 
here and there, and at La Antigua 
the river of the same name is passed 
on a steel bridge, near the place of a 
landing constructed by Cortez, where 
there are some old cannon accredited 
to the conqueror, and near by some 
tombs and an old church, bearing date 
of 1526. In the approach to Vera Cruz 
all beauty is left behind, and but for 
the rolling surf of the sea, here might 
be the entrance to the desert of Sahara, 
where the sand blows in drifts like the 
beautiful snow, and where real snow 
fences are necessary to keep the sand 
from burying the tracks. But there is 
only a mile or two of this, and is not to 
be remembered with all the grand beauties of the hills behind us. 

The Morelos Division of the Interoceanic Railway leaves the main line at Los 
Reyes and runs southwest, with an ultimate destination at Acapulco on the Pacific 




STATION SAN MARTIN, INTEROCEANIC RAILWAY. 



201 

coast. The first station of importance is Ayotla, where, like Los Reyes, the 
inhabitants bring fish to the trains to sell. The old adobe town on the right of 
the track, on the shores of the lake, is a very pretty one. 

After passing Ayotla the road makes a turn around the lake, and the volcanoes 
come to view and are in sight through all the journey, seen first from the left win- 
dows, but as the track curves about are seen from either side. 

La Compania is a very pretty little village, where there is horse-car connection 
on the left for Tlalmanalco, and. on the right, along a shaded roadway, to Chalco, 
a city on the border of the lake, whose towers and domes can be seen for some 



STONE STAIRWAY, SACRO MONTE. 

distance as the train moves southward. Next is the village of Cuatlenchan, on a 
hill on the left side ; the church on the top of the hill is seen up and down the 
road for several miles. 

Amecameca is the stopping place for the pilgrims bound for the craters of 
Popocatepetl and Ixtaccihuatl. The train rounds the hill and stops right at the 
base of Sacro Monte, the sacred mountain, one of the most picturesque shrines in 
all Mexico. Look from the windows on the right, or, while the train waits, step on 
the platform for a good view of the stone stairway, almost hidden by a dense 



202 




grove of trees. The city Hes spread out on a plain on the left of the track. 
Tourists who have no time for a longer stay, or do not continue to the end of the 
road, may leave Mexico on the morning train, have a few hours at Amecameca 

and return in the after- 
noon. The view from 
the Sacro Monte is 
superbly magnificent. 
No nearer view of the 
volcanoes is obtain- 
able unless the ascent 

is made, which re- 
quires three days' time 
and is attended with 
much discomfort; but 
the adventure of the 
ascent, and the seeing 
of the grandest view 
in the world, from a 
height of nearly 18,000 

feet, is worth any 

amount of fatigue. 
Leaving Amecameca 

the railway passes 

CULVERT NEAR ACAJETE, INTEROCEANIO RAILWAY. thrOUgh One Of the 

streets of the town and crosses the stone causeway which was built for the pilgrim 
processions, between the church and the shrine. At a point a few miles south of 
Ozumba the highest elevation of the road is reached, there having been a con- 
tinuous climb from the plain of Mexico, and the down-grade to the hot country is 
commenced; without an engine the train would roll to Cuautla, too fast, so the 
engine is retained to hold it in check. From the station at Nepantla there is a 

magnificent view from ~ - ' ~ 

the left windows, a 

view taking in millions . 

of acres of the hot 

lands to the moun- j | 

tains, a hundred miles i 1 

beyond. For miles and j ] 

miles, as the train rolls ] 

down the hills, may be 

seen, first from one 

side and then the other, 

the dome and tower of 

a church. The same 

church may be seen for 

two hours; it is the 

Church of San Miguel, 

at Atlatlahutla, and 

near it is an abandoned 

monastery. Here 

as^ain the tourist finds 

another feature of ^'^l^^^ o'^ san Salvador, interocean.c railway. 

Mexico's scenery and people, totally different from all the other travels in the 

Republic. The houses are adobe as to walls and thatched as to roofs ; the broad 

plains have curious trees ; bands of Indians troop from one town to another in 




203 

curious costumes, marching along totally oblivious to the passing locomotive and 
approaching civilization, and vi^ill not give away to the latter any quicker than 
they virill to the engine if they happen to be on the track when it comes along. 
In fact it is hard for them to understand that the train cannot "keep to the right" 
when it meets people in the road, and they claim the right of way from the fact 
that they were there first. 

Now the sugar country is reached. The train passes through a fine hacienda 
and backs into Cuautla on a Y, passing and crossing an aqueduct, where the natives 
are seen bathing and washing clothes, comes to a station that was once a church. 

The train stops some minutes at Cuautla and there is time for a walk through 
the little alameda, just outside of the station, where there are trees and flowers, a 
hotel where there are good wines, coffee and lunches to be had. As the approach 
to the station has been through a grove of tropical trees and gardens, so is its 
departure, and the train continues southward through the cane country to Yaute- 
pec; the distant mountains enrich the scene, making a blue background to a 
lovely tropical picture that extends down to Jojutla and the end of the track. 




POPOCATEPETL FROM AMECAMECA. 



204 



South Over the National — The murky, muddy, mis-named Rio Grande does 
not improve as it grows and goes on to the sea; it is the same insignificant little 
creek here, as everywhere else that a railroad crosses it, and the country of the 
first hundred miles of Mexico equally unattractive in chapparal and cactus- 
covered plains. This desolation con- 
tinues only to the Salado River, at 
Lampazos, where the mountains begin. 
On the right of the track, south of the 
station, is La Mesa de los Cartujanos, a 
mountain with a perfectly level top, 
2000 feet above the plain. A narrow 
path, not wider than is necessary for a 
man and a mule, leads up the rugged 
side to the wooded and watered table 
at the top, where once was the home of 
a tribe of Indians, the Cartujanos, so 
called from an ancient Benedictine 
mission, established there two hundred 
years ago, who, strangely enough, found 
wood and water on the summit, when 
there was none on the plain. The route 
of the railway is southwesterly, follow- 
ing what was first an Indian trail, then 
the King's highway, and, in later days, 
the line of march of the American 
armies, as they proceeded on an inva- 
sion that their greatest general has pro- 
nounced the most unholy and unjust war 
ever waged by a stronger on a weaker 
nation. The track crosses and recrosses 
the old road many times, passing Busta- 
mente, Villaldama and Palo Blanco. 
From Villaldama a branch extends to 
the Guadalupe mines. The mountains 
are growing and closing in nearer the road, until the Saddle Mountain and the 
Mountain of the Mitres are in the view. These overlook the valley of Monterey, 
a perfectly lovely valley, with high hills on every side. At Monterey is the 
junction of the Monterey & Mexican Gulf Railroad and tramway lines for Topo 
Chico Ho Springs. South from Monterey the road runs across the plain and 
enters the San Juan Valley, which grows narrower and narrower, till it becomes a 
canon, and the views interesting in their beauty and grandeur. Eight miles from 
Monterey is the village of Santa Catarina, with high mountains on either side. 
On the left, about two miles across the valley, high up near the top, is a hole 
directly through the crest, as if made by a monster cannon shot, and near Garcia 
are some caves, not seen from the cars, but objects of excursions from Monterey. 
After some miles of wmding about, first on one side and then on the other of the 
noisy little San Juan River, the valley closes to the narrow precipitous cliffs of a 
canon, and the road comes to the table-land, and at Ramos Arispe an interesting 
village and hacienda is seen on the right. 

The wider valley continues on to Saltillo, running through fertile fields and 
gardens, till after the city is passed, the road enters a more barren district. Five 
miles south, on the left, the track runs near to the battlefield of Buena Vista. It 
is an up-grade to Carneros, and, just beyond, on the right, is the little pueblo of 
Gomez Farias, once the home of a band of bandits. It is a roll from here down 




TUNNEL PORFIRIO DIAZ, INTEROCEANIC RAILWAY. 



205 

to the plains, passing the unimportant stations of La Ventura and El Salado. 
At Vanegas is the junction of the Vanegas, Cedral & Rio Verde Railroad to 
the silver reduction works of Cedral and Matehuala, running also within a mile 
of the Real de Catorce, that formerly were reached only by burros from the 
station of Catorce, twenty miles farther on. 'At Catorce the narrow mountain path 
can be seen from the windows on the left. It starts up the mountain from the 
little village just at the foot of the hill, almost hidden by green trees. Catorce is 
the last stop in the Temperate Zone, the Tropic of Cancer being crossed just 




THE CURVED BRIDGE ABOVE DOS RIOS, MEXICAN NATIONAL RAILROAD 

before arrival at the station of La Maroma. The spot is marked by a pyramid, 
seen on the right of the track. The route now is across an unbroken plain, the 
long stretch of track being without a curve; there are deflections here and there, 
but no curves for nearly a hundred miles. There are no cuts or fills, and, if danger 
of derailment were the only consideration, trains might make a speed of a hundred 
miles an hour. 

From Catorce the ride is still over what seems an almost endless plain, until 
the train reaches Bocas, where there is something to see from both sides of the 
cars; on the left a beautiful hacienda, looking like a walled fortress, but outside 



206 



the walls are some tropical gardens, all lovely with bright flowers. On the right, 
almost hidden by the trees, are two white church-like towers. This place was 
once the property and a favorite resort of Maximilian, and nearer the track is a 
manufactory of mescal and tequila. 

After leaving Bocas the road enters the hills again, and some pretty views are 
presented, but what most interests the tourists is the approach to the city of San 
Luis Potosi. The first view is from windows on the right, and after passing 
through some fertile fields and some miles of gardens, with adobe walls inclosing 
semi-tropic fruits and vegetables, the towers of the old-time town are in full view 
against a low line of hills to the westward, and when the train comes to the station 
one concludes it is a gala day in 
town, as if the entire population, 
resolved into a committee of 
reception, had come to the sta- 
tion to meet some distinguished 
guest. Leaving San Luis Potosi 
the road enters the rich agricul- 
tural belt of Central Mexico. 
The country becomes more 
broken and interesting, and as 
valley after valley is passed, it 
is apparent that the soil is here 
extremely productive. The pop- 
ulation becomes more dense, 
and the vegetation increases 
in luxuriance. Villa Reyes is 
passed, with the immense haci- 
enda of Jaral, which, during the 
revolution of 1810, furnished a 
full regiment of cavalry to assist 
the royalists against the armies 
of the patriots. The hacienda 
once controlled 20,000 peons. 
Before arriving at San Felipe 
a deep barranca is crossed, 
spanned by a viaduct noticeable 
for its height, and the engineer- 
ing skill displayed in its con- 
struction. San Felipe is a town 
of some 6000 inhabitants, and 
is situated in the center of a 
rich farming country. Dolores 
Hidalgo was given its surname 
in honor of the patriot, Hidalgo, 
the Washington of Mexico, who 
here sounded the watchword of 
liberty which fired the Mexican 
heart, and roused the whole 
country to arms to repel the 
power of Spain. Thisisaquaint 
old town of several thousand 
inhabitants. It has a fine plaza, and interesting churches, and the traveler is 
shown many relics of the Cura Hidalgo, which are here preserved in the old 
house which he occupied. The approach to San Miguel is from the northeast. 




AT CUAUTLA, INTEROCEANIC RAILWAY. 



207 




VIEW NEAR DOS RIOS, MEXICAN NATIONAL RAILROAD. 

The city is picturesquely located on the south side of the track, and the view from 
the left side of the cars is a beautiful one. The city is a mile away, but is spread 
out on the side of a great hill, so that it cannot be hid. 

After San Miguel the road comes to the Canon de la Laja. The best view is 
from the windows of the cars on the right, the waters of a little river sparkling 
under the trees hundreds of feet below the track. Across the canon the hills rise 
up high, shutting off even the early afternoon sun; and just at a turn of the canon, 
on a jutting point of the mountain, is a cross that stands out against the sky, as if 
it was painted there. Down in the valley, here and there, are clusters of adobe 
houses, with quaint little churches, making the queerest little villages imaginable; 
some of them are very near the track on the right side, so close that the flying 
tourist has glimpses of Mexican backyard life. The houses are almost hidden 
from view by trees and vines, among which are some oranges, lemons and bananas. 
There are some wonderful views all through the canon, making it a most interest- 
ing portion of the journey. After leaving the canon the road enters a semi- 
tropical region, passes the enterprising village and factories of Soria, seen from 
the west windows, and if the train would stop long enough, a walk through the 
purely Mexican town of San Juan de las Vergas would be amply repaid. The 
streets are hedged with giant cacti, fifteen and twenty feet high; behind, there are 
the adobe houses of the inhabitants, almost hidden by a luxuriant foliage of 
banana leaves and vines. There are forests and orange and lemon trees and 
some coffee trees. The people are purely Mexican, with not even a half-bred 
Spaniard exception. 



208 



Hence, for a while, the route is through a rich agricultural region to and beyond 
Celaya, which city is on the right, and for miles the domes of the churches and 
fiat-topped houses may be seen, with a high mountain for a blue background. 

The National crosses the Mexican Central Railway at Celaya, and, having left 
the valley of the Laja, crosses a broken country to the valley of the Lerma, the 
longest river in Mexico, which the road crosses after passing Salvatierra, where 
there are some extensive woolen mills. 

At Acambaro is the junction of the Western Division of the National Railway 
with the main line. The city lies on the right of the road, on a plain almost hid- 
den by trees and at the base of a high mountain. If for any reason the train 




LOS REYES, INTEROCEANIC RAILWAY, 

should Stop long enough at Acambaro, a walk up town will repay. Leaving this 
station, the route runs more to the southeast, but follows the Lerma Valley, often 
running along its banks, sometimes near the water, and again high on the cliffs 
of a canon. 

Maravatio is a pretty little city on the right of the track, about forty miles from 
Acdmbaro. A look from the windows shows the tower of an old church above the 
trees, beyond which are the low-built houses. The country now alternates between 
the finest agricultural lands and grazing plains, with some barren hills intervening. 
The Canon of the Zopolite, through which the road passes, presents some of the 



209 

finest views of wild scenery. Just before the canon is reached, on the left is shown 
a high cliff from which Juan Medina, a noted brigand, leaped his horse to the 
death of both horse and rider, to escape the latter's capture by the pursuing 
soldiers. After leaving the canon the road winds about on the barren hills in 
such bends and curves that the track parallels itself two or three times, and 
looking from either side, that part of the road passed a quarter of an hour ago, or 
to be gone over fifteen minutes hence, may be seen two or three hundred yards 
away. Along here a seat on the left of the train is best. Way across the valley 
is a village, down by the river Lerma, almost hidden by the trees, only the white 
belfry of the church rising above them. This village is not out of sight for nearly 
an hour. The seat on the left is best for views of the canon, and if a careful 
lookout is kept, the snow-capped crater of the volcano of Toluca may be seen, the 
first glimpse about the hundred-and-fortieth kilometre post, and it may be seen 
again and again, as the train reaches the top of the grades. Coming down into 
the valley of Toluca the view is best from the right side, where it seems to rise 
higher and higher above all the hills, as the road runs nearer to its base. 

The city of Toluca is in the midst of a wide, level plain, a table-land, dotted 
here and there with haciendas, showing evidence of great prosperity. The view 
of the city is from the right side of the cars. Going east from the city the route 
runs through the finest agricultural district, and along the broad highway that 
was once a paved road, with massive stone bridges, crosses the Lerma again, and 
comes to the base of the Sierra Madres and commences the climb up its steep 




OBSERVATION CAR, MEXICAN NATIONAL RAILROAD. 



210 



sides. Looking back now, see the cities of the plain — Toluca in the distance, and 
the once "great city of Lerma," the home of the brigands, now a mere village. 
Passing the suburbs of the town of Ocoyocac, the road winds up the mountain 
side till it is a thousand feet above it, when, looking down on the red-tiled roofs, 
it looks like a toy town of playhouses. The view from the right-hand windows 
and the rear platform is grand beyond description; as the train crawls slowly 
up the steep grades the panorama spreads out wider, and the white-capped vol- 
cano seems to follow in the wake, till the view is lost behind the trees. At the 
foot of the mountain is the river, like a silver ribbon ; beyond, the green and fertile 
valley, dotted here and there with a hacienda or hamlet ; in the far distance the 
snow-topped mountain, and, nestling at its foot, the white walls and warm, red- 




AT THE PALACE GATE, CHAPULTEPEO. 

tiled roofs of Toluca. A few more turns, and the fair view is shut out, skyward ; 
now, along the cliffs of another canon, the train approaches the summit. The 
station of La Cima is directly on the divide ; the waters flowing east go to the 
lake, on the Plain of Mexico ; those flowing west go to the Pacific Ocean, and the 
stream that rushes down the west side of the mountain, alongside of the track, is 
the headwaters of the river Lerma. 

At Salazar, built on a plain near the summit, the train halts for some ten 
minutes. The air is found to have become sharp at an altitude of nearly 10,000 
feet. Leaving Salazar, the train continues the ascent to La Cima. At La Cima 
the descent of the eastern slope begins, and the glorious beauty of the noble 
Valley of Mexico commences to unfold. Through gaps in the mountain wall you 



211 



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AT MONTEREY. 



may catch fleeting views in the panorama, until finally it bursts like a vision full 
upon the sight; the glittering towers and domes of Mexico in the middle dis- 
tance; a little farther, and to the left, the broad expanse of the waters of the lakes 
gleaming in the sunlight like burnished silver ; beyond, and overshadowing all, 
raising their snow- 
crowned heads far 
above, a coronal of 
rainbow-tinted 
clouds wreathing 
them about, stand, 
in majestic beauty, 
like guardians 
watching mutely 
over the scene, the 
giants of the valley, 
Ixtaccihuatl and 
Popocatepetl. Could 
they but speak, what 
a history they might 
unfold — the building 
up of cities and their 
throwing down; 
what opulence of 
power, what cruelty,, 
crime and blood- 
shed. Races have come and gone; majestic monuments, raised by the hand of 
man have melted into dust and are forgotten. They alone remain immutable, 
the hand of time dealing with them but lightly. 

Passing down the east side of the backbone of the continent, in crooks and 
turns, through the tunnel of San Martin, the train rolls rapidly along the side of 
the Monte de las Cruces, called so from the innumerable crosses erected over the 
graves of highwaymen and their victims; then crossing a curved bridge over the 
Dos Rios, nearly a hundred feet high, comes down into the Hondo Valley. The 
village with the church, on the hill on the right, was the home of a band of 
robbers for many years. Just after passing the station there is shown, on the left 
side, an immense meteoric stone, or, " the stone that fell from the moon," as the 
natives call it. 

Now the City of Mexico is at hand, and with a few more turns the towers and 
domes are in the view. As the train rolls down the Valley of Los Remedios, the 
sanctuary is seen on the hill to the left; Chapultepec on the right, and the town 
of Tacuba on the left. Again, on the left, the Church of San Esteban, and 
the tree of Noche Triste, and then the Colonia Station, in the City of Mexico. 

Westward from Acambaro — As the train circles the town, the view is a very 
pretty one. Still passing through the fertile farming lands the journey grows more 
mteresting with every mile, interspersing rich haciendas with scenery wild and 
weird, and after making a quick turn from between some hills comes suddenly in 
view of Lake Cuitseo. , Circling round through the marsh at the head of the lake, 
where there are some salt works, the train comes up to, and runs along the lake 
shore. The view is from the north side. It is a fine body of water, but- very 
shallow, with mountain islands rising up from the water in every direction. 
One of these is inhabited by a tribe of Indians who have no dealings with the out- 
side world. On a little island of a few acres they have a little world of their own, 
where a hardy, healthy band of contented people seem entirely oblivious to all 
beyond the shores of their lake. The men are strong, sturdy fellows, who go about 



212 

the lakes in long canoes, and take, with a pole-net, the little white minnow-like fish 
on which they subsist ; dried in the sun, they are ready to be eaten. The women 
are fine specimens, looking as if they might be warriors too, if their little island was 
attacked, but seem happy in the little thatched huts that are their homes. The 
waters are covered with thousands of water fowl of all kinds, and there is excellent 
shooting. Near the station on the lake shore, on the right, see the columns of steam 
rising from the marshes. These are springs of hot water, hot enough to boil an egg 
hard in a few moments. In the thick brush near the track the Indians have made 
bathing pools and come here to bathe, and the fame of the cures is great. On the 
bushes and sticking in the ground around the pools are hundreds of little crosses, 
made by two sticks tied together, left there by grateful patients who have been 
cured or their ills by the waters. The ground all about the springs seems to be a 
mere crust, sounds hollow, and sinks under the weight of a person walking near 
the springs. There is a strong smell of sulphur, and whether this is only an 
upper crust of his Satanic majesty's domain may be surmised. 

From Lake Cuitseo to Morelia the route crooks and turns through fertile lands, 
passing fine haciendas and pretty villages, crossing valleys where perpetual run- 
ning streams keep the fields and gardens green from summer to winter and winter 
to summer. When the reaping of one crop is accomplished another is planted, 
and large yields of corn, wheat and barley are made. 

From the right side of the cars a " saddle " mountain is seen all the way from 
Lake Cuitseo. It lies just north of the suburbs of Morelia, and is a landmark 
showing the location of that city. 

The tops of the towers in the city of Morelia may be seen rising above the low 
intervening hills, while the train is yet some miles away. The city is on the left 
of the track, but a seat on the right is best. The track runs along the river bank 
for a mile or two, and there are hundreds of Indian women washing clothes. 
These with their children, and the men waiting to let their wives carry the laun- 
dry home, make an interesting scene. 

The ride from the city to the western terminus of the Mexican National at Patz- 
cuaro, is picturesque to a degree. From the left windows you see the Cuincho 
waterfall, where there are also some hot springs with water at a temperature 
sometimes reaching a hundred degrees. 

The first view of Lake Patzcuaro is from the right- 
hand side of the cars, and after making some curves 
on the hillside high above the barranca, the train comes 
down to the shore of the lake, where there is a hacienda 
hotel near the station. 

The city of Patzcuaro is two miles from the station, located high on the hills, 
from whence is a view of exceeding beauty. Miles from the lake, dotted with its 
dozens of islands, and the valley with nearly fifty towns and their white-domed 
churches, illustrate a lovely panorama. 

The Mexican Northern Railway runs northeast from Escalon, on the Mexi- 
can Central Railway, to the Sierra Mojada mining district, forty miles. 

South Over the Southern. — Through the south of Mexico, from Puebla to 
Oaxaca, runs the Mexican Southern Railroad, with an ultimate destination at 
Tehuantepec, or at the deep water harbor of Salina Cruz, on the Pacific Coast. 
The road penetrates the rich regions of one of the richest sections of the Republic, 
a territory with a wealth of timber and mineral resources in the mountain districts, 
and illimitable beds of marble and onyx. In the lowland valleys cane and coffee 
grow with wildest luxuriance, and all the fruits of the tropics are found in the 
fields of the haciendas along the line. 

The products of the contiguous territory must contribute to a local traffic that 
will enter largely into increased earnings as mines and quarries are opened, 




213 



and when all the sugar and coffee lands are put under cultivation, while the route 
of the road is geographically in the line that must be taken by the "backbone 
railroad" from North to South America, and while that plan is being promoted, 
this section is already built and operated, and in the near future the Mexican 
Southern Railroad will offer the shortest route, for through business, from the 
interior of the two Republics to the west coast of Central and South America. 

Unlike any other railroad in Mexico the Southern does not run high on the 
table-lands, and along the mountain sides, but follows the valleys, and, from a 
scenic point of view, offers an innovation to the travelers of other lines that have 
looked down on the valleys below the tracks, till they came here to travel through 
the valleys, and through one canon and barranca after another, looking up to the 




SIERRA MOJADA, MEXICAN NORTHERN RAILWAY. 

overhanging cliffs and towering peaks that close in about the roadway till it seems 
there is hardly room to pass betweem them. Here are the ever-running rivers to 
complete the innovation from the dry, rocky beds of the rainy-season rivers of 
other sections. The route of these rivers is the route of the road, and the two are 
companions, hardly out of sight of each other for many miles. 

Leaving Puebla the Mexican Southern Railroad runs almost due east, parallel 
with the line of the Interoceanic Railway, across the plain as far as Amozoc. 
This should be called the Valley of Churches. Look where you will, the tiled 
domes rise above the plain. They are in the villages, north, east, south and west, 
and every hacienda has one of its own — picturesque to a degree, with the polished 
tiles of many colors, as in the Puebla Valley and around Cholula. Looking back- 



214 



ward, as the train leaves the handsome station in Puebla, there is a view of the 
city, the forts on the surrounding hills, and beyond them, to the westward, the 
pyramid of Cholula; further, high against the western sky, the Volcanoes of 
Popocatepetl and Ixtaccihuatl; and, to the northward, old Malintzi and the Cerro 
del Tecolote; then, a little to the east of north, the sharp, white peak of Orizaba, 
rising above the hill of Amaluca. Is there a view like this, anywhere, that may 
be seen from the windows of a passenger car? Where? 

It is a slightly ascending grade from Puebla, with an altitude of 7093 feet to 
Amozoc, at 7295 feet above the sea, and after leaving that station it is as con- 
stantly descending, for more than a hundred and thirty-five miles, to Quiotepec, 
and then it is up hill to Las Sedas, and, again, down hill to Oaxaca. Of course 
there are ups and downs of track, but the average ascents and descents are as 
mentioned. Passing the station of Santa Rosa, the first town of importance is 
Tepeaca, on the left of the track, with the towers of a grand old church, high 
above the houses and the trees surrounding it. The station of Rosendo Marquez 
was named for a prominent Mexican and former Governor of the State of Puebla. 

Tecamachalco is a picturesque old town, lying on a hill to the north of the 
track. The road from it to the town skirts the hill above the intervening little 
valley, or, we may call it a street, since it leads from the others of the town, that 
wind about among the adobe houses. The picture is not exactly like any other 
we have seen in Mexico. 

In the region around Las Animas there is a change in the cactus; the prickly- 
pear variety of other sections does not grow here, or, at least, not as much as 
elsewhere. Here it is the " organo," the full-grown plant greatly resembling the 
pipes of the church organ, and it is most aptly named. Here also is that variety 
from which the ixtle fibre is taken. It is a succes- 
sion of rich valleys and nature's great terraces, 
the table-lands, that the road passes through 
along here, dropping from one to the other, 
by gradual descent, that is shown by the 
easy running of the train, and a rising 
temperature. Passing the stations of 
Tlalcotepec and Carnero, the important 
city of Tehuacan is next on the line. 
The station at Tehuacan and the city 
are on the east side of the track. It is 
a very pretty little city, its streets, with 
a row of trees through the center, run- 
ning at right angles, and passing through 
pretty plazas, where there are other 
over-hanging trees, growing with a tropic 
luxuriance. It is the " Street of Democ- 
racy" that leads from the station to the 
Plaza Mayor. The low-walled houses on 
either side have their patios filled with flow- 
ers, and on the outer walls curiously curled 
brackets hold the old-fashioned street lamps. 
On one side of the plaza is the principal church 
of the place, on another the portales, on the others stores 
and residences. In the center, in the dense shade of the 
trees, is a handsome music stand, embowered in flowers, 
plaza are paved with stone. There are seats on either side, and on other walks 
leading in and out among the trees and flowers. Near the plaza is a curious old 
market, and a more curious old convent-looking church with a garden behind 




ABOVE THE CLOUDS, POPOCATEPE1 

The outer walks of the 



215 



the high walls surrounding it. Opposite the market is the College of Arts, and 

near by an abandoned church, now used as a barrack for a company of rurales. 

Tehuacan is on the ridge of a great water shed from which flow the rivers to 

the Gulf and to the Pacific, and in the center of a rich aijricultural district. It is 




IN THE MOUTH OF THE CRATER, POPOCATEPETL, INTE'ROCEANIO RAILWAY. 



the market for the surrounding villages and haciendas. This rich valley tempted 
the building of a tramway from Esperanza on the Mexican Railway, but it was 
wholly inadequate to tne traffic, and since the building of the Southern road there 
has been a largely increased trade. 

After leaving Tehuacan, the view from the windows on the left is full of 
interest. The city's white walls and towers gleam through and over the 
trees. The plain spreads away to the mountains beyond, and not far away they 
break off in great cliffs of rocks some hundreds of feet high, that are in the view 
for miles and miles. As the track curves about the plain, the picture is constantly 
changing in shapes and colors, for the rocks are stained in all the colors by the 
oozings through of the metals of the earth coursing down the cliff, that seem cut in 
huge columns, as might have been in some prehistoric battlements of an ancient 
fortress. Here also, just below the city, is a castle-like monastery on a pyramid 
near a high-walled panteon. The monastery may have extracted its Pompeiian 
colors from the cliffs just beyond, that are so full of color. 

Passing down the plain, southeasterly, the track runs near a little stream, that 
grows larger as it winds in and out among the hills. The stations on this table- 
land are La Huerta, Santa Cruz, Pantzingo, Nopala and Venta Salada. Near 
San Antonio the road enters the Canon del Rio Salado, which is but the beginning 
of the great Canon de los Cues, through which it runs to the town of Tecomavaca. 
The scenery through this canon is grandly picturesque, resembling that of the 
great Marshall Pass of the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad, the track running at 



216 

the bottom of the canon, right along the banks of a rushing, roaring river. The 
mountains are lifted up thousands of feet, in peaks and crags, that the storms 
have cut into fantastic shapes. Their walled sides drop perpendicularly to the 
water's edge, and close in upon the river and the road till the passenger doubts, 
in his nimd, how either will find the way out, till the train dashes through a little 
tunnel, that is only a wink of darkness, and the river tumbles over some high 
rocks, at the point of the rocks, and runs alongside again. Here is a curious 
freak of the scenery ; we have been riding along a stream whose waters run to 
the south, the train passes through a cutting, across a bridge, and comes to 
the river again, but the waters are naming to the north. There are two rivers; 
the one running south is the Rio Salado, the other, the Rio Grande. They come 
together behind a hill, close by, and form the Rio Quiotepec which is the head 




ON THE MEXICAN SOUTHERN RAILROAD. 



water of the Rio Papaloapan. And here at Quiotepec is the lowest point on the 
line, the altitude being only 1768 feet above the sea; the ascending grade com- 
mences, and it is almost a steady climb through the Canon of Tomellin, along the 
river bank still, with high towering mountains on either side. The station at 
Cuicatlan is in the midst of tropical verdure. There is little of the village in 
view at the station, but, just after leaving it, a look back will show the picturesque 
little town on the hill above the track. 

At Tomellin the river is crossed and left behind, and the train now begins 
to ascend the valley of its tributary, the Tomellin or Rio de San Antonio. 
The scenery of Tomellin is picturesque. The little river is very pretty, the 
green trees invite to cooling shades, bright plumaged birds chatter in the 
branches, but beyond all this, Tomellin is to be remembered — Tomellin is the 
dinner station. And such a dinner! Appreciated perhaps all the more, because 



217 




ON THE MEXICAN SOUTHERN RAILROAD 



I SO absolutely unexpected in 
i this far-away country; for this 
it may be remembered, yet 
more than all for the very 
excellence of it. It could be 
a model for very many dinner 
stations some thousands of 
miles nearer home. If you 
dine at Tomellin, you'll not 
forget or regret it, and per- 
haps you will want to carry 
some of the dinner along for 
supper. 

Hence, for some miles, it 
is an up-hill ride through the 
canon still, with scenery wild 
and weird on either side of 
the road, passing the stations 
of Almoloyas, Santa Catarina, 
Parian, arriving at the sum- 
mit at Las Sedas, where there 
is one of the grandest views 
of all the grand views of this 
scenic line. From the win- 
dows on the right the pano- 
rama extends far down the 
valley, and across it to the 
far-away pictures among the 
mountains, range after range 
rising one above the other, 
the deep blue of the nearer 
ones fading a little to those 
just beyond, and fading again 
till they seem to blend into 
the sky, the sun tingeing each 
with a different hue, and on 
the range near by, marking 
the white line of a mountain 
road that crosses to the val- 
leys on the other side. 

The grade is downward, 
and it is only a roll down past 
Huitzo to Etla, a pretty httle 
village on a hill eastward 
from the road, showing pic- 
turesquely from the windows 
on the left. Etla is a town of 
fiestas, to which the pilgrims 
come from far and near, as 
they do to Amecameca and 
Guadalupe, and scarcely in 
fewer numbers. The old 
church is on the very top of 
the hill, fronting the pretty 



218 



little plaza, where the fiestas are held, and back of it is a very ancient aqueduct 
of high arches extending into the mountains, bringing a supply of fresh water to 
the village. It is a wide, open country that the road runs through, the rich valleys 
extending to the hills on both sides, dotted here and there with haciendas, that, 
with their great houses, granaries and churches, are villages in themselves, and 
remind one of the principalities we have read of in the old feudal ages. Across 
the valley, to the west, the mountain breaks off in palisades; on the east it slopes 
to blue mountains. Thus the ride is, with much to see from either side, or back 
to the hills just climbed over. There has not been a moment of monotony in all 
the journey, at the end of which there are anticipations of newer novelties in this, 
to us, hitherto unseen city, and while we are only leaving the little town of Etla, 
and its outlying haciendas, just down the valley there, are the towers of Oaxaca. 

South Over the Mexico, Cuernavaca & Pacific — The route is not over the 
old diligencia road across the Plain of Mexico, but over one equally as attractive, 
and while the style of travel may not be as antiquely picturesque as on the rum- 
bling, dust-covered diligencia, the scenery is equally as fine, and there is a deal 
more of comfort. 

Trains leave from the Buena Vista station of the Mexican Central Railway, 
in the City of Mexico, circling the western suburbs, running tb rough the grounds 
of the Agricultural school, Nextitla, Tacuba, San Juanico, and Santa Julia, a 
flag station. This place will be an important one. It was a regular hacienda 
before, and the owners have fractioned the grounds and sold them in lots. The 
"Colegio Salesiano" is now in construction. This Catholic institution is devoted 
to poor boys, and is supported by charity of Mexican families. It is provided 



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CONTRERAS. 

with shops of all kinds. After leaving Santa Julia the road crosses, in a straight 
angle, the main line of the Mexican National Railroad, and reaches the Morales 
flour mill, after which it runs through the grounds of " Molino del Rey," the 
Mexican Government's arm factory, in the surroundings of which the battle with 



219 



the United States army took place in 1849. There are still some remains of the 
defenses built by the Mexican army. On the left-hand side, and about half a 
mile from the track, is the magnificent castle of Chapultepec, with its great 
groves and architectural solidity. It was the ancient dwelling of Aztec kings, 
and the present residence of the President of the Republic. From this place 
on the handsome views of the Valley of Mexico begin to develop, until the 
heights of Ajusco are reached. The next point of interest is Tacubaya. It has 
a population of about 20,000, and is the most important suburban town of Mexico, 
where wealthy men from the city have built magnificent houses and gardens for 
their summer resorts. From the station of Tacubaya there is a small branch to 
the Valdes and Santo Domingo flour mills. These mills use the waters supplying 
Tacubaya and the City of Mexico as motive power. 

Mixcoac is a small town, but an important one of the valley, on account of 
its topographical situation, healthful climate, and abundant water. The principal 
industry of the natives is the cultivation of flowers, a great number of them 
being taken to the City of Mexico for daily sale. Mixcoac, as well as Tacubaya, 
is connected with the city by this road, by the Valley Railway, and horse cars. 
The passenger business is quite considerable, and there is a train of the Valley 
Railway every half hour, and horse cars every twenty minutes. 

At 500 metres from the station the road passes by the door of " Hacienda de 
la Castaneda," a place of amusement, with large gardens. Balls as well as other 
amusements take place every Sunday. 

El Olivar is the old residence of the Catholic clergy. Near the 
station there is another flour mill, and several factories of 
cotton goods and paper. The line runs through the small 
_ town of San Geronimo, devoted to the cultivation of fruit, 
"^ especially strawberries. It is remarkable to see the work the 
„4\| natives have done in order to adapt these grounds for culti- 
vation, as all has been formed within dry walls and filled with 
vegetable earth, hauled from long distances. The town is 
well supplied with water for irrigation. A little further on 
the road passes the "Lomas de Padierna," where a battle 
ith the United States army took place. Near the track there is 
small monument, erected to the memory of the soldiers who fell 
1 that battle. In making the grading works some pieces of 
uniforms with buttons of the two armies were discovered. 
Contreras is the oldest factory of cotton goods established in the Valley of 
Mexico. The greater part of the people from the town of La Magdalena are 
employed here. The factory is moved by the water of La Canada River, and 
is situated at the entrance of a long and narrow canon. Ever since the road 
was completed foreigners have chosen this place for Sunday excursions. The 
Canada Canon is one of the most picturesque of the Republic. Its vegetation is 
tropical, notwithstanding the elevation, and in winter, when the vegetation of the 
valley is dead, that of the Canada is as exuberant as that of the tierra calietite. 

After leaving Contreras the road passes through the lands of San NicoMs, 
arriving at the flag station of Eslava, situated on one side of the hacienda of the 
same name. A mile beyond the road enters on a tract thickly covered with 
volcanic stone, thrown away a long time since by the volcano of Ajusco. The 
grounds have a very original aspect. It has not been necessary to make any 
works for letting rain water run out. The ground is so porous that all the water 
filters in, and afterwards appears at the bottom of the mountains in a dozen 
crystal springs. 

Near the 40-kilometre post it was necessary to make two big cuts, and one of 
the biggest fills in the country. To give an idea of its magnitude, it is enough to 




220 



say that it may be seen distinctly from the City of Mexico, and for its construc- 
tion ic was necessary to remove an amount of material exceeding 90,000 cubic 
metres. From this point may be clearly seen the Valley of Mexico in the whole 
extension, the lakes of Texcoco, Chalco and Xochimilco, all the small towns 
of the valley, and the volcanoes with their white peaks. It is one of the most 
picturesque views of the road. The elevation of this place is 1,657 feet above the 
City of Mexico, and 9,006 feet above the sea. 

The road continues ascending through the chains of mountains, and arrives 
at the station of Ajusco, at an elevation of 9,318 feet. The station is situated in 
the lower part of the town of Ajusco. 

The next station is La Cima, the summit, at an elevation of 9,895 feet above 
the sea. This is the highest point of the line. From this place the line tsegins to 
descend, passing, at 66 kilometres, the divisory line of the Federal District and 




STREET IN CUERNAVACA. 



the State of Morelos. From this station to Cuernavaca, by straight line, is thir- 
teen miles, but on account of the mountainous country the road distance is thirty- 
eight miles. 

Fierro Del Toro, at an elevation of 9,665 feet above the sea, is situated at the 
entrance of the magnificent forest of Huitzilac. The road continues on one side 
of the niountains of Coajomulco, through the town of the same name. Before 
reaching this point, the small but productive State of Morelos may be seen, with 
the city of Cuernavaca and the numerous haciendas where they cultivate the 
sugar cane and tropical fruits. 



221 

After Coajomulco, the line passes San Juanico, Near this place there are 
some very high stone hills, in the highest of which there are some ruins called 
the "Gran Tepoxteco." This is a remarkable construction on account of the 
difficulties the Indians must have had to take up the materials to such a height, 
about 600 feet vertical. Some idols are still to be seen there. Access to the 
mountains is very difficult. 

At the lower part of San Juanico Mountains, and not very far from the track, 
the town of "San Miguel de la Cal" is situated, where there is a deposit of 




ALONG THE TAMASOPO CANON, MEXICAN CENTRAL RAILWAY. 



natural lime, ready for use ; it is probably the only one of such magnitude in 
the Republic. 

From San Juanico the line runs to the west, touching the towns of Santa 
Maria, Chamilpa, Ocotepec and Ahuatepec, and comes to the city of 

Cuernavaca, capital of the State, with a population of 7,000 inhabitants ; 
elevation 4,937 feet above the level of the sea. It is built upon a hill between 
two large depressions of ground, which make two ravines that unite outside of 
the southern extremity of the town. From any of the culminating points of 



222 

Cuernavaca the eye embraces the territory of the State in its widest extent, its 
inner chains as well as its mountainous boundary. To the north is the long range 
of Ajusco with its ramifications, whose offshoots, known as the mountains of 
Tepoxtlan, rise in fantastic shapes, whilst the snowy peaks of Popocatepetl and 
Iztaccihuatl tower loftily in the background. The large sugar plantations and 
plantain farms, with which the country is filled, together with the luxuriant 
vegetation surrounding them, reveal the fertility of the soil of this essentially 
agricultural State. The town proper contains more than 500 houses, besides the 
cottages in the suburbs, with their orchards and gardens. It has more than sixty 
streets and alleys, five squares, five churches, the most important being the Parish 
Church, which, like that of Tula, in the State of Hidalgo, is very old and its exterior 
appearance that of a fortress. Among the public buildings may be mentioned 
the old palace of Cortez, now occupied by the State Government, the Literary 
Institute, the Porfirio Diaz Theatre, the Hospital and the Barracks; the Post Office 
and the Telegraph Office are all that is modern. 

The Michoacan & Pacific Railway runs west from the town of Maravatio, 
on the Mexican National Railroad, fifty-three miles to Ocampo, where stages con- 
nect for Ziticuaro. 

TJie ivionterey & Mexican Gulf Railroad extends from the station of Tre- 
vino, where it connects with the Mexican International Railroad southeast to the 
Gulf of Mexico, at Tampico, crossing the Mexican National Railroad at Monterey. 

South from Trevino the road runs for some distance through an uninteresting 
district, but the barren hills and plains become verdure-clad and there are fertile 
valleys farther south ; above Monterey the picturesque region begins and con- 
tinues to the lovely valley in which that city lies, coming to it at the north and 
leaving it at the south side. 

Approaching Monterey the best views are from the windows on the west side, 
showing the Mountain of the Mitres and the Saddle Mountain, on the far side 
of the valley, with the beautiful city at the base, almost hidden by the tall trees, only 
the towers showing above them. It is not all romance and antiquity at Monterey. 




A NATIVE FONDA, SAN JUAN. 



In every view the more prosaic chimney stack of a smelter, factory or brewery 
stands in line with the church tower of the olden days. Monterey has probably 
made greater advancement than any other Mexican city as a manufacturing 
centre. There are establishments of almost every branch of trade, some of 



223 



the most extensive ore smelters in the country, and the brewery making the 
famous Cuautemoc beer from the pure waters of the Monterey Valley. 

South from Monterey the Monterey & Mexican Gulf road continues through a 
very fertile country, passing from one valley to another, the products changing 




MONTEREY &. MEXICAN GULF STATION, MONTEREY. 



with the climate southward, from the fruits and cereals of the temperate zone, to 
the cane and cotton and tropic fruits of the tierra caliente ; from the familiar 
forests of our own land to the hard woods of the warmer countries. The builders 
of this road boast the use of ebony for ties; certainly there are some now under 
the rails cut within hauling distance of the track. There is merchantable ma- 
hogany, rosewood and other close-grained timber in demand for the finer uses in 
the arts. Another of the products of this region is a beautiful black marble, with- 
out a seam or gleam of white, or other color than its own inky blackness. This and 
a hard gray stone are used in the company's handsome stations, at Monterey and 
other points on the line. 

At intervals along the plain south of Monterey are station platforms that may 
be used for suburban travel. At San Juan there is a picnic ground, with a dan- 
cing pavilion, in a grove of trees near a clear running stream. On the right of the 
track is a native "fonda" side by side with the " Two Republicks " restaurant ; on 
the other side some thatched huts, in queer contrast with the big brick kiln near 
by. It is a well watered country that this one, unlike the other roads of Mexico, 
runs through. The running streams are seen in little rivulets, creeks and rivers 
of more pretentious proportions than is usual in this country, and the prospect is 
necessarily different from most of the other railway lines. 

Montemorelos, seen from the windows on the west, is a city of some 16,000 in- 
habitants, founded in the year 1749, about which time the first church of the town 



224 

was built. The only work of art is a painting " Pensador Mexicano," by Senor Don 
Eduardo Lizardi. There are two Protestant churches, Presbyterian and Baptist. 
The former was founded by Senor Leandro Garza Mora, in 1862; the latter by Mr. 
Thomas Westrup, in 1869. 

Linares is a flourishing town in the sugar belt, on the head waters of the Rio 
Tigre, sometimes called the Conchas. The sugar industry of this section has 
been greatly promoted by the advent of the railroad, and the importation of 
modern machinery. On the right, far across the plain, is a high mountain that a 
bright, gossipy correspondent has called the " Sombrero," and with great excuse, 
for no matter what its other name may be, it will be recognized at once as a 
"sombrero." The immense crown of the peak, and wide, spreading brim of the 
foothills are in sight during all the journey down to Tampico. 

Victoria is the capital of the State of Tamaulipas, founded in 1750. Its popu- 
lation ranges from 11,000 to 12,000. The altitude of the town is 1180 feet above 
the sea level, and is located at the 23° 42' 54" latitude, and 0° 01' 02" longitude, 
east of the meridian of Mexico. The climate is almost perfect, there being neither 
excessive heat in summer, nor are the winters in any degree severe. Oranges, 
limes, bananas, pineapples, grapes, and in fact all the tropical products are 
grown in profusion in this locality. There are three churches in the city, two 
Catholic and one Protestant. One of the former is the 
Cathedral; its construction dates from the foundation of 
the town, and is still in an unfinished condition. The erec- 
tion of the other was commenced at a comparatively recent 
tdate, and of the more modern style of 
church architecture. The Protestant 
church is a very unpretending place of 
worship, it being merely a missionary 
headquarters. 
Among the points of interest to 
the tourist may be mentioned the park 
"Pedro Jose Mendez," containing many 
rare and beautiful plants and shrub- 
bery. This lovely resort is situated 




at the southern end of the Alameda. 
CAPITOL OF soNORA, MEXICO ^hc Alameda is an elegant drive and promenade, 
with a row of fine trees on each side, extending for a distance of over two miles. 
The governor's residence and state house of representatives is situated on the 
Alameda, as are also many beautiful private residences, all of which go to 
make La Ciudad de Victoria a very attractive place among the comparatively 
newer order of cities of Mexico. 

It is a descending grade with long stretches of level track across an open 
country, hence to Tampico, with here and there patches of tropic verdure, outlying- 
groves of the more extended forests that are over the hills towards the coast, and 
in the valleys to the west of the road. The Tampico terminals of the Monterey 
& Mexican Gulf Railroad comprise extensive wharves at deep water, where the 
largest ships come alongside. The freight yards are ample and the track con- 
nections with the Mexican Central complete. 

South Over the Sonera Railway— The State of Sonora is noted for its great 
agricultural resources. The principal staple is the famous sweet orange grown 
in the luxuriant orchards of Hermosillo and Guaymas. Wheat, corn, beans, 
alfalfa, cotton, sugar cane, tobacco and other agricultural products are cultivated 
in great quantities. Wheat is sometimes exported to England and to Mexican 
eastern markets. Flour is constantly sent to the States of Silanoa and Lower 
California and now and to other Mexican states. Cattle are numerous in middle 



225 

and northern Sonora, are exported to Lower California and to the United States. 
Mines are abundant and very rich, and the mining industry is well developed all 
over the State. Vast amounts of rich silver ore are taken to United States smelters. 

The Sonora Railway, crossing the State in a northerly direction from Guaymas 
to Nogales, boasts of being the first international railroad built and operated 
between Mexico and the United States. It is 353 miles long and standard gauge. 
The first tie was laid in the early part of 1880, and last spike driven in October, 1882. 

There are several periodicals and newspapers published in Nogales, Magda- 
lena. Altar, Ures, Hermosillo, Alamos and Guaymas. "El TrAfico,'' of Guaymas, 
is one of the largest in the Republic of Mexico and has a very wide circulation 
at home and abroad. 

The State of Sonora is noted for the beauty of its scenery of land and sea. 

Nogales, with about 3,000 inhabitants, is a thriving double town of the boundary 
line, half of it lying in Arizona Territory, the other portion in the State of Sonora. 




CITY AND BAY, GUAYMAS, MEXICO, SONORA RAILWAY. 



On the American side can be seen several fine business houses, hotels and 
factories, while on the other side there are some fine shops, stores and private 
residences. The Mexican Custom House is an imposing stone building. The 
town of Nogales is very enterprising, well provided with public schools, and has 
water works and electric light. 

Just south of Nogales the tourist can admire the beautiful Casita Canon, 
dotted with superb trees and shrubbery, intersected by several streams of clear 
water running along the route of the railroad. 

From Casita south to Santa Ana the country is all under cultivation, large 
farms alternating with orchards and vegetable gardens. The town of Magdalena, 
with 4,000 inhabitants, is quite renowned, it being the rendezvous of thousands of 
pilgrims from Sonora, Chihuahua and Durango in Mexico, and from Arizona, 
California and New Mexico in the United States, all going to Magdalena to pray- 
to San Francisco's image, on the fourth of October every year. 



226 



Hermosillo, the capital of Sonora, and the seat of the Catholic diocese, pos- 
sesses a magnificent government capital, a fine new cathedral and a small but nice 
Protestant church, the national mint, one of the best modern flour mills, a beautiful 
depot and several other elegant pubhc and private buildings. The Plaza of Her- 
mosillo is the largest and handsomest in Sonora. The population exceeds 10,000 
people. The district of Hermosillo is noted tor its splendid agricultural and min- 
ing surroundings, the railroad crossing exuberant orange groves, vegetable farms 
and flow^er gardens. 

Guaymas, the home of the Sonora Railway, is a city of over 8,000 inhabitants, 
all very enterprising and progressive. The foreign element is quite important 
and of high standing. Guaymas is a great commercial place and the feeder of 
Sonora, Lower California, Sinoloa and Colima, the Sonora Railway facilitating 
the imports and exports from and to the United States, Europe and Eastern 
Mexico. 

The bay of Guaymas is the best on the Mexican Pacific coast, and one of the 
largest in all the Pacific Ocean. Marine trade is very important in Guaymas, and 
its bay is constantly visited by Mexican and foreign craft. A marine railway is 
being built and is nearing completion. 

That the city of Guaymas is progressing rapidly, due principally to the open- 
ing of the Sonora Railway, as shown by the construction of a street-car system, 
two substantial brick buildings for public schools, a magnificent civil hospital, the 
new jail, an imposing stone structure, water-works system, a very large bonded 
warehouse, landings and wharves for the storage and transfer of foreign freight, 
protestant and catholic churches, and several other buildings, factories and 
private residences of modern style. 

During the winter season — November to May 
-the temperature of Guaymas is un- 
equaled in the world, well adapted for 
the invalid as well as for the tourist 
and sportsman. Ducks and other wild 
game are plentiful in the outskirts of 
the city, and fishing, sailing, boating 
and bathing in the surf, are the most 
enjoyable sports on the great Guay- 
mas Bay. The Carnival in Guaymas 
is carried out in grand style at the 
same season as in New Orleans, 
numberless foreigners visiting the 
I city, participating in the proces- 
sions and masquerade balls. 
TheTehuantepec Railroad runs 
from Coatzacoalcos, on the Gulf of 
Mexico, to Salina Cruz, on the 
Pacific Coast, about 145 miles. 
The Hidalgo Railroad runs 
northeastward from the City of 
Mexico to Pachuca,Tulancingo 
and Zumpango. 
The Mexican National Con- 
struction Company operates 
a line from Manzanillo, on the 
Pacific Coast, to Colima, 60 miles ; 
also a line from Zacatecas to Guada- 
lupe and Ojo Caliente, 30 miles. 




227 



The United States of Mexico. 



The Republic of Mexico comprises twenty-eight States, one Territory and the 
Federal District in which the national capital is located. The State Governments 
are very similar to those of the United States, having a Governor, Legislature, 
Courts, etc. The following table gives the names, capitals, population, area, etc. 



Names of States. 


Capital. 


Area in 
square miles. 


Assessed 
value. 


Population. 


Aguas Calientes 


Aguas Calientes 


3,080 
20,760 
59,000 

2,700 
29,600 
89,200 
42,300 
12,300 
22,700 

7,600 
38,400 

8,080 
23,000 

1,850 
25,000 
28,400 
12,600 

3,800 
26,100 
36,100 
77,000 
10,000 
29,000 

1,500 
23,840 
28,400 
25,300 
530 
60,000 
450 


$ 5,619,694 
1,343,795 
6,474,637 
3,335,476 
4,430,212 
5,653,931 
7,057,879 
31,071,636 


142,000 


Campeche 


Campeclie 


91,180 


Coahuila 


Saltillo 


185,000 


Colima 


Colima 


70,000 




Tuxtia Guitierrez 

Chihuahua 


309,479 


Chihuahua... 


298,073 


Durango . ... 


Durango 


265,931 






1. 007.1 Ifi 


Guerrero 


Chilpancingo 


1,487,167 1 350,000 


Hidalgo 


Pachuca 


15,384,737 494,212 




Guadalajara 


23,066,248 1.1.59..341 


Mexico 


Toluca 


21,391,096 

22,234,279 

16,955,515 

10,584,790 

12,741,300 

36,682,090 

11,560,483 

14,553,656 

4,807,790 

7,223,500 

3,859,558 

7,214,935 

7,145,716 

25,933,387 

4,110,455 

16,615,651 

550,000 

4,355,526 

58,844,421 


826,165 


Michoacan 


Morelia 


830,923 






151,540 


Nuevo Leon 


Monterey 


289,533 


Oaxaca 


Oaxaca 


793,419 


Puebla 


Puebla 


866,627 


Queretaro 


Queretaro 

San Luis Potosi 


213,525 


San Luis Potosl 


600,000 


Sinaloa 


Culiacan 


200,000 


Sonora 


Hermosillo 


223,687 


Tabasco 


San Juan Bautista 

Victoria ... 


115,000 


Tamaulipas ... 


189,139 


Tlaxcala 


Tlaxcala 


147,988 


Vera Cruz 


Jalapa 


633,369 




Merida 


320,000 




Zacatecas 


517,000 




Tepic 


120,000 


Lower Cahf ornia . . . 


La Paz 


35,000 


Federal District 


City of Mexico 


463,646 








Totals 




748,590 


$ 392,289,560 


11,908,893 









For the support of the Governments of the various States there is a system of 
taxation on all foreign and domestic merchandise, as well as a direct tax on all 
classes of property, real and personal. A portion of the tax receipts are paid to 
the National Government. 

Each State is represented in the Congress by two Senators, elected alternately 
every two years, and by one member of the Chamber of Deputies for each 40,000 
of population, and one for each fraction of more than 20,000. 

The largest State is Chihuahua, since Coahuila was shorn of that portion of 
the domain now called Texas, Tlaxcala is the smallest State, and Morelos the 
next smallest. Puebla is the wealthiest in assessed values, with Guanajuato a 
close second. The wealth of the former is, for the most part, in the silver mines; 
of the latter, in agricultural lands and onyx quarries. Campeche represents the 
smallest amount of wealth. The Federal District is to Mexico what the District 
of Columbia is to the United States, and has a similar code of laws, administered 
under the direction of the Federal Government. 

Only five of the States and one Territory of Mexico are without railway com- 
munication, Chiapas, Tabasco, Guerrero, Sinalao, Lower California and Tepic, 
but all of these have fine harbors either on the Gulf or Pacific Coast. If the next 
decade is as prolific in railway building as the last, every State will have its railway. 



228 



Location, Population and Altitude o! Cities. 



CITIES. 



AcAmbaro 

Aguas Calientes .. 

Amecameca 

Catorce 

Celaya 

Chihuahua 

Ciudad de Mexico. 

C6rdoba 

Cuautla 

Cuernavaca 

Durango 

Guadalajara 

Guanajuato 

Guaymas 

Irapuato 

Jalapa 

Lagos 

Leon 

Lerdo 

Linares 

Maravatio 

M6rida 

Monclova 

Monterey 

Morelia 

Morelos 

Oaxaca 

Orizaba 

Pachuca 

Patzcuaro 

Puebla 

Quer6taro 

Saltillo 

Salvatierra 

San Luis Potosi . . . 
San Miguel de Allende 

Silao 

Tampico 

Texcoco 

Tlaxcala 

Toluca 

Topo Chico 

Torreon 

Tula 

Tzintzuntzan 

Yautepec 

"Vera Cruz 

Victoria 

Zacatecas 



Popula- 
tion. 


RAILROADS. 


hi 
|3| 


si 


PRONUNCIATION. 


9000 


Mexican National .... 


178 


6084 


Ak-fcam-baro. 


36000 


Mexican Central 


364 


6261 


Ah-was Cal-i-eti^tees. 


12000 


Interoceanic 


25 


7602 


Ah-majz-cah-mcty-cah. 


20000 


Mexican National .... 


471 


6750 


Kay-tor-see. 


22000 


.Mex. Cen. and Mex. Nat. 


182 


5816 


See-li-ya. 


18000 


Mexican Central 


999 


4718 


Che-iuow-wa. 


400000 


All Roads. 





7875 


The-u-dad day Meh-ico. 
Cordroya. 


6500 


Mexican Railway 


198 


2710 


12000 


Interoceanic 


85 


3556 


Kwoutrla. 


13000 


.... Mex., Cuer. & Pac 


50 


4960 


Kiver-ne-vaca. 


35000 


. . Mexican International . . 


863 


6136 


T>QO-rang-o. 


100000 


Mexican Central 


381 


5162 


Wau-dtha-la-hara. 


90000 


.... Mexican Central 


250 


6842 


Wan-na-waft-to. 


5000 
26000 


Sonora 


1674 
212 


10 
5890 


Wah-ee-mos. 


Mexican Central 


Ir-TSi-pwat-o. 


15000 


Interoceanic 


257 


4372 


Ha-top-pa. 


11000 


Mexican Central 


296 


6359 


Lahrgos. 


100000 


Mexican Central 


259 


5872 


Lay-own. 


11000 


Mexican Central 


684 


3844 


Laer-do. 


8000 


. . Monterey & Mex. Gulf . . 


820 


1859 


Le-nair-ese. 


6000 


. . . Mexican National .... 


139 


6750 


Marry-vartee-o. 


85000 


M6rida & Progreso. . . . 


763 


150 


Merry-&d. 


5000 


. . Mexican International . . 


1041 


2000 


Mon-cto-va. 


22000 


. . . .Mexican National. . . . 


667 


2010 


Mon-te-ray. 


35000 


Mexican National .... 


235 


6226 


Mo-ray-lya. 


5000 


. . Monterey & Mex. Gulf . . 


769 


1848 


Mo-reZ-ose. 


30000 


Mexican Southern 


356 


5065 


O-ah-hafc-a. 


16000 
20000 


Mexican 


181 

84 


4132 
8000 


Or-ry-za-ba. 
Pah-choo-ca. 


Interoceanic 


15000 


Mexican National 


274 


6787 


Pate-quaro. 


75000 


Interoceanic 


98 


7263 


Poo-eb-lah. 


50000 


Mexican Central 


153 


5963 


Kay-ref-a-ro. 


12000 


Mexican National 


606 


5342 


Sal-teel-yo. 


11000 


Mexican National. . . . 


197 


5714 


Salva-te-er-ra. 


80000 


.Mex. Nat. and Mex. Cen. 


362 


5786 


San itt-is Po-to-see. 


20000 


Mexican Na tional 


253 


6231 


San Me-gil day Al-yen-de 


15000 


Mexican Central 


238 


5832 


Se-Iow. 


lOOOO 


Mexican Central 


779 


75 


Tam-pee-co. 


10000 


Interoceanic 


20 


7862 


Tez-co-co. 


4000 
20000 


Mexican 


97 
45 


7506 
8617 


Tlaz-caZ-ah. 


Mexican National .... 


To-k»o-ca. 


500 


Mexican National 


667 


2010 


To-po Chee-co. 


5000 


Central and International 


706 


3721 


Torey-ovm. 


2000 


.... Mexican Central 


50 


7353 


Too- la. 


2000 


Mexican National 


273 


7000 


Tzin-teoo»i-tzan. 


7000 


Interoceanic 


98 


2340 


Ya-oif-tepec. 


20000 
8000 


Mexican 


263 
975 


5 

1275 


Vera Crooze. 


. . Monterey & Mex. Gulf . . 


Vic-to-ria. 


75000 


Mexican Central 


439 


8967 


Za'ky-tay-cas. 



229 



Hotels and Restaurants 



NAME OF HOTEL OK 
RESTAURANT. 



LOCATION. 



City of Mexico. 

American 

Bazar 

Bella Union 

Comontort 

Continental 

Europa 

Gillovv 

Gran Oriente 

Gran lociedad 

Guardiola 

Humboldt 

Iturbide 

Jardin 

Nacional 

Eefngio 

San Francisco 

San Carlos 

San Agustin 

Universal 

RESTAURANTS. 

Cafe de Paris 

Concordia 

Gillow 

Iturbide 

Eecamier 

Eich's Chop House 

Teatro Nacional 

Acambaro. 

Gran Hotel International. . 

Mexican Nat'l E. E. Hotel. 

Garza Boarding House 

Aguas Calientes. 

Plaza 

Del Comercio 

Catorce. 

Mexican Nat'l E. E. Hotel. 
Celaya. 

Hotel Soils 

Hotel Cortazar 

Hotel Guadalupe 

Chihuahua. 

Palacio . 

Eobinson House 

Cuernavaca. 

Diligencia 

San Pedro 

Durango. 

Cafe de la Union 

Central 

Exchange Place 

Santa Ana 

Sierra Madre 

Sonora 

Victoria 



2a San Francisco y Gante 

Espiritu Santo 

La Palma 

Cinco de Mayo 

Cinco de Mayo 

CoUseo Viejo 19 

San Jose el Eeal 

Monterilla No. 10 

Espiritu Santo 

1st San Francisco 

Calle de Jesus 

San Francisco 

1st Independencia y Letran 

3 de San Francisco 

Eefugio 

2d Francisco y Gante 

Coliseo 

San Agustin 

Espiritu Santo 

Coliseo Viejo 

2a Plateros 

la Cinco de Mayo 

Iturbide Hotel , . 

3a San Francisco 

Betlemitas, near Iturbide Hotel 
14 Vergara 



Cor. Ferrocarril and Palma Streets 

In the Station 

Ferrocarril Street 

Plaza Mayor 

Plaza Mayor 

Mexican National Station 

Nueva Frente 69 

Calle de la Cruz 8 

Portal de Guadalupe 9 

Plaza Mayor 

Near Plaza 

Calle Nacional 

Plaza Mayor 

n Constitittion Street 

5 Constitution Street 

6 Constitution Street 

7 Teresas 

6 Constitution Street 

13 Coliseo 

1 San Francisco Street 



RATE PER DAY. 



$1.00 to $3.00 


1.00 to 


3.00 


.50 to 


2.50 


1.00 to 


1.50 


1.00 to 


2.00 


.50 to 


2.00 


1.00 to 


3.00 


1.00 to 


1.75 


1.00 to 


4.00 


1.00 to 


2.00 


1.00 to 


4.00 


1.00 to 


5.00 


3.00 to 


8.00 


1.00 to 


1.50 


1.00 to 


3.00 


1.00 to 


2.00 


1.00 to 


3.00 


.75 to 


1.25 


.50 to 


2.50 


A la Carte. 


A la Carte. 


A la Carte. 


A la Carte. 


A la Carte. 


A la Carte. 


A la Carte. 


J Eooms.50to .75 


1 Meals. . . 


50 


J Eooms. . 


50 


( Meals. . . 


75 


J Eooms. . 


37 


1 Meals . . . 


37 


$1.00 to $2.00 


1.00 to 


2.00 


1.00 to 


2.00 




1.50 




1.50 


.50 to 


.75 


2.00 to 


2.50 


2.00 to 


3.00 




2.00 


1.00 to 


2.00 




1.50 




2.50 




2.00 


No table board. 


1.00 to 


2.00 




2.00 




2.50 



Capacity 



230 



Hotels and Restaurants 



NAME OF HOTEL OR 
RESTAURANT. 



Guadalajara. 

Huniboldt 

Cosmopolita 

Guanajuato. 

Hotel cle la Union 

Irapuato. 

Ferrocarril 

Inclepenclencia 

jalapa. 

Mexicano 

Veraci'iizauo 

Lagos. 

Progreso 

Leon. 

Hotel cle Comercio 

Dilijiencias 



Near Plaza 

One square from Plaza. 



Plaza Mayor . 



Opposite Station. 
Near Plaza 



Plaza Mayor 

Half square from Plaza. 



Near Plaza. 



Plaza Mayor , 
Near Plaza. .. 



Plaza Mayor. 
Near Plaza. . 



Maravatio. 

Central 

Mesa 

El Delirio 

Monterey. 

Hotel Hidalgo 

Hotel Iturbide 

Hotel de la Plaza 

Hotel Topo Chico 

Morelia. 

Hotel Oseguera 

Hotel Central ! Near Plaza 

Hotel Soledad Near Plaza 

Hotel Michoacan Near Plaza 

Montemorelos. 

Hotel Plaza 

San Ygnacio 

Orizaba. 

Hotel Comercio 

La Borda 

Diligencia 

Pachuca. 

Metropolitano 

San Carlos 

Patzcuaro. 

Ibarra 

Concordia 

Queretaro. 

Ferrocarril Central 

Aguila Koja 

Saltillo. 

Restaurant 

Hotel San Est^ban 

Hotel Tomasiclii 

Salamanca. 
Hotel de la Union 



Plaza Principal, Portal Morelos. 

Real de Mexico 33 

Calle Posada Nueva 



Plaza Hidalgo 10 

Triiragazu y Dromier 

On the Plaza 

Topo Cliico Hot Springs 



Plaza Mayor. 



Main Street. 
Main Street. 
Near Plaza. . 



Near Railway Station . 
Antigua Diligencias. . . 



Hda Ibarra. 
Ibarra 2 



Plaza Mayor , 
Plaza Mayor . 



Mexican National Station . 

Calle Curato 

Plaza Mayor 



RATE PER DAY. 



$1.00 to $2.00 
2.00 to 3.00 



2.00 to 3.00 



1.00 to 2.50 
1.00 to 2.50 



2.00 to 3.00 
2.00 to 3.00 



2.00 to 2.50 



1.50 to 2.00 
2.00 to 2.50 



1.00 

1.25 

.50 



2.00 to 
2.50 to 



3.00 
5.00 
2..50 
4.00 



..50 to 1.00 

.37 to .50 

..50 to 1.50 

..50 to 1.00 



1.00 to 
1.50 to 



1.50 to 
1..50 to 
1.00 to 

1.00 to 
1.00 to 



Plaza Mavor , 



2.00 to 
2.00 to 
2.00 to 

1.00 to 



3.00 
3.00 



2.00 
2.00 
2.00 

2.00 
2.(10 



1.50 
1.50 



1.00 
1..50 



2.50 
2.50 
2.50 



Capacity. 



231 



Hotels and Restaurants 



KAME OF HOTEL OR 
RESTAURANT. 



Salvatierra. 

Hotel delaLiiz 

Hotel de la Cruz 



San Luis Potosi. 

Continental 

Progreso 

Washington 

American Hotel 

Nacional Mexicano 

San Fernando 

Hotel de America 

San Carlos 

Eestaurant 



San Miguel deAllende. 

Mexican jSTat'l Station Hotel. 
Hotel Allende 

Silao. 

Hotel Kidon 

St. Julian 

California 

Kestaurant 



Tampico. 

Hotel Bobbins (Am.). 
Continental (Mex.) . .. 

TIaxcala. 

San Carlos 

San Francisco 

Toluca. 

Gran Sociedad 

Hotel Central 

El Leon de Oro 

San Agustin 

Deposito 

Texcoco. 

Kestaurant 



Tula. 



Hidalgo 

Moctezuma. 



Yautepec. 

Gran Central 

Vera Cruz. 

Diligencias 

Hotel de Mexico 

Vera Cruzano 

Oriente 

Victoria. 

The Central 

Navarro 

M. & M. G. Station Hotel . 

Zacatecas. 

Zacatecano 

Central 

Commercial 



LOCATION. 



Plaza Pral . 
Zavala 2 ... 



4th Zaragoza 14 

2d Aldama 

Bravo 

Alameda 

Alameda 

4th Juarez 24 

Plaza Principal 

Aldama y Iturbide 

Mexican National Station. 



Station 

Plaza Mayor. 



Near Railway Station. 
Near Railway Station. 



Railway Station . 



Plaza Mayor. 
Near Plaza . . 



Plaza Mayor. 
Plaza Mayor. 



Matamoros, frente & los portales. 

Plaza Principal 

Juarez 15 

Plaza Principal 

Guerrero 



Half Square from Railway Station . 



Plaza. 
Plaza. 



Plaza Mayor. 



Plaza Mayor 

Opposite Wharf. 

Plaza Mayor 

Plaza Mayor 



Plaza 

Plaza 

Railway Station. 



Near Plaza 
Near Plaza. 
Near Plaza. 



RATE PER DAY. Capacity. 



$ .50 
.50 



$1.25 to 



1.50 to 
2.00 to 



2.00 to 
2.00 to 



1.50 to 



1.00 to 
1.00 to 



1.00 to 
1.00 to 
1.00 to 



1.50 
2.50 
2.00 
2.50 
1.50 
2.50 
2.50 
2.00 
3.00 



2.00 
2.00 



2.00 
2.03 
2.00 



1 .50 to 3.00 
1.50 to 3.00 



1.00 
1.00 



.75 to 
.50 to 
.75 to 
.50 to 
.50 to 



1.00 
1.00 
2.00 
1.00 
1.00 



1.00 to 2.00 



1.00 to 2.00 
1.00 to 2.00 



2.00 to 3.00 

2.00 to 2.50 

1 .00 to 2.00 

1.00 to 2.00 



1.00 to 3.00 
1.00 to 3.00 
1.00 to 3.00 



2.00 to 3.00 
1.50 to 2.50 
1.50 to 2.50 



232 



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Table of Terms. 

(Accented Syllables of Pronunciation in Italics.) 

Numbers. 

ENGLISH. SPANISH. PRONUNCIATION. 

One Uno, una Oo-wo. 

Two Dos Dose. 

Three Tres Tress. 

Four Cuatro Kwah-tro. 

Five Cinco Seejt-'ko. 

Six Seis Say-\s. 

Seven Siete See-az-te. 

Eight Ocho 0-tcho. 

Nine Nueve ^oo-ev-e. 

Ten. Diez D&-eth. 

Eleven.. Once C>«-say. 

Twelve Doce Bo-say. 

Thirteen Trece Tres-ay. 

Fourteen Catorce Kay-for-sa.y. 

Fifteen Quince .Keen-say. 

Sixteen Diez y seis De-etA e say-is. 

Seventeen Diez y siete De-<?/>^ e see-«z-te. 

Eighteen Diez y ocho De-etA e <?-tcho. 

Nineteen. Diez y nueve De-ef/z e noo-^7/-e. 

Twenty Veinte Vay-'mte. 

Twenty-one, etc Veinte y uno, etc Vay-inte e oo-no. 

Thirty Treinta Tray-inta. 

Forty Cuarenta Kwar-,?«-ta. 

Fifty Cincuenta . . Seen-/^'ay^«-tah. 

Sixty Sesenta Se-.y,?«-tah. 

Seventy. Setenta Say-/^«-tah. 

Eighty Ochenta O-c/ten-tah. 

Ninety Noventa No-ven-tah. 

Hundred, a or one Ciento See-,?«-to. 

Two hundred Doscientos Dose-see-^«-tose. 

Three hundred Trescientos Tress-see-.?«-tose. 

Four hundred Cuatrocientos Kwah-tro-see-<?«-tose. 

Five hundred Quinientos Ke-ne-^«-tose. 

Six hundred Seiscientos Sai-is-see-^zz-tose. 

Seven hundred Setecientos Sai-tay-see-<?«-tose. 

Eight hundred Ochocientos 0-cho-see-d?7z-tose. 

Nine hundred Novecientos No-vay-see-^«-tose. 

Thousand, a or one Mil Meal. 

Two thousand Dos mil Dose meel. 

Eleven hundred Mil ciento Meel see-d:z«-tose. 

Hundred thousand Cien mil See-en meel. 

Million Un millon Un milyon. 



235 

Ordinal Numbers. 

ENGLISH. SPANISH. PRONUNCIATION. 

First Primero Prixn-mer-ro. 

Second Segundo SsLy-g-oon-do. 

Third .... Tercero Ter-sere-o. 

Fourth Cuarto Kwar-Xo. 

Fifth Ouinto Keen-to. 

Sixth Sexto Seks-\o. 

Seventh Septimo 6",?/-te-mo. 

Eighth Octavo Ok-/a/z-vo. 

Ninth Noveno, or nono No-vay-no. 

Tenth Decimo Z?«j/-see-mo. 

Months. 

ENGLISH. SPANISH. PRONUNCIATION. 

January Enero 'Eh-ner-ro. 

February Febrero F eh-drer-TO. 

March Marzo Mar-so. 

April Abril h\i-breel. 

May Mayo Mah-yo. 

June Junio Hoo-x\&-o. 

July Julio Hoo-\&-o. 

August Agosto Ah-^c-sto. 

September Septiembre Sep-te-^?«-bray. 

October Octubre Ok-/(?^-bray. 

November Noviembre No-ve-^;?z-bray. 

December Diciembre De-the-^;«-bray. 

Days of the Week. 

ENGLISH. SPANISH. PRONUNCIATION. 

Monday Lunes Zo(7-nes. 

Tuesday Martes Mar-t&s. 

Wednesday Miercoles Me-(?r-ko-les. 

Thursday Jueves Whay-\&s. 

Friday Viernes Y t-ere-n&s. 

Saturday Sd,bado Sak-hah-do. 

Sunday Domingo 'Do-7nee)i-go. 



Time. 



PRONUNCIATION. 



Day Dia De-a/z. 

Morning Mafiana Man-ja/z-nah. 

Noon Medio dia Alay-dto de-ah. 

Afternoon Tarde Tar-day. 

Evening Tardecita 7ar-day-5-^^-tah. 

Night Noche A^(?-tchay. 

Midnight Media noche Afay-de-ah no-tchay. 

Yesterday Ayer Ah-yere. 

The day before yesterday Antes de ayer An-ta.ys day ah-yere. 

To-day Hoy Oy. 

To-morrow Mafiana Man-j/a/z-nah. 



236 

The day after to-morrow Pasado manana 'Pa.-sa/i-do man-jj/a:A-nah. 

The night before last Antes de anoche ..... An-tsiys day ah-no-tchay. 

Last night Anoche Ah-;Z(?-tchay. 

Last week La semana pasada. . . . Lah sa-y-ma/z-nali pa.-sa/i- 

dah. 

Last month El mes pasado El mess pa-sa/i-do. 

Last year El aiio pasado El ahn-yo pa-.y<2/^-do. 

Y ear Ano A Jin-yo. 

Month Mes Mess. 

Week Semana Say-^za/z-nah. 

An hour Una hora C'c/z-ah oh-xah.. 

Half an hour Media hora J/ay-de-ah c/z-rah. 

Quarter of an hour .Un cuarto de hora. . . .Oon kwar-Xo day o/i-rah. 

What day of the month is it?. -iQue dia es hoy? Kay ^^-ah es oy? 

Hour Hora . , C-rah. 

Minute Minute Min-oo-to. 

Second. Segundo Say-goon-do. 

What time is it? iQue hora es?. Kay o-ra es? 

It is one o'clock Es la una Es lah oon-a. 

It is a quarter past one Es la una y cuarto. . . . Es lah oon-ah e Aiaar-to. 

It is half past one Es la una y media. . . . Es lah ooji-ah. e 7Hay-dia. 

It is a quarter to two. Son las dos raenos Sone lahs dose fnay-nos 

cuarto. kwar-to. 

It is about four Son cerca de las Sone sere-ka de las kwah- 

cuatro. tro. 

It is twenty minutes past ten . . Son las diez y veinte Sone lahs de-eth e T/ay-inte 

minutos. min-£j(9-tose. 

Two o'clock Son las dos Sone lahs dose. 

Ten o'clock Son las diez Sone lahs de-eth. 

It is midnight Es media noche Es inay-de-o 7/c'-tchay. 

It is noon Es media dia Es niay-de-a. dee-ah. 

Seasons. 

ENGLISH. SPANISH. PRONUNCIATION. 

Spring Primavera 'Prim-mah-vere-ah. 

Summer Verano Vai-r^/z-no. 

Autumn Otono 0-tone-yo. 

Winter Invierno Een-ve-^r(?-no. 

Money. 

ENGLISH. SPANISH. PRONUNCIATION. 

Money Moneda Mo-woy-dah. 

Money Dinero T>e.-jter-o. 

Gold Oro O-ro. 

Silver Plata P/at-ah.. 

Paper Papel Vah.-pell. 

Dollar Peso Pay-'&o. 

Cent Centavo Cen-tah-YO. 

Real Real Ray -a:/. 

Medio Medio May-dt-o. 

Change Cambio Kavi-ht-o. 

Bank note Billete Beel-j^az-te. 



237 

Per cent Por ciento Por see-^;z-to. 

Bank Banco Bank-o. 

Draft Letra de cambio Lay-Xxz. day cam-\)^-o. 

Check Cheque 0<?/^-kay. 

Discount Descuento Des-coo-^;z-to. 

Premium. IJ'remio Pray-me-o. 

Par Ala par ; Ah lah par. 

On the Road. 

ENGLISH. SPANISH. PRONUNCIATION. 

Ticket Boleto Bo-/ay-to. 

First class Primera clase. Prim-<?r-ra /^/^j'-say. 

Second class Segunda clase Say-£'oon-da.h k/as-say. 

Third Tercera clase Ter-sere-ah k/as-say. 

Through ticket Boleto terminal Bo-/ay-to ter-me-;?a/. 

Limited ticket Boleto limitado Ho-Zi^y-to lim-e-Za/i-do. 

Unlimited ticket Boleto ilimitado Bo-Zay-to e-lim-e-/(?/z-do. 

Stop-over ticket Boleto de parada Bo-/ay-to day pah-ra/i- 

dah. 
Excursion ticket Boleto de excursion Bo-/ay-to day ex-cur-see- 

on. 
Round-trip ticket Boleto de viaje redondo. .. Bo-Zay-to day vee-«/;-he 

ray-don-do. 

Half-fare ticket Medio boleto Afay-de-o ho-/ay-to. 

Sleeping-car ticket Boleto de coche dormitorio . Bo-/ay-to day l(7-tchay 

dor-me-i'i3-re-o. 

Ticket agent Agente de boletos Ah-/z^;z-tay day ho-/ay-Zos. 

Ticket office Despacho de boletos Des-pa/i-tch.o day ho-/ay- 

tos. 
Telegraph office Oficina del telegrafo Ofi-e-see-nah del tel-Zeg"- 

rah-fo. 

Railroad Ferrocarril Fer-ro-car-ri?^/. 

Railroad station. . Estacion Es-tah-see-c;z. 

Train Tren Tren. 

Express train Tren expreso Tren es-pres-o. 

First train Primer tren Prim-^r tren. 

Through train Tren terminal Tren ter-mt-nal. 

Local train Tren local Tren local. 

Sleepmg car Coche dormitorio i^w^-tchay dor-me-/o-re-o. 

Smoking car. Coche de fumar Ko-tchay day ioo-jnarr. 

Express car Coche del expreso Ko-tchay del es-pres-o. 

Day coach Coche de dia A'i9-tchay day dt-ah. 

Baggage car Carro de equipajes Kar-xo day ek-we-^c?/^- 

hes. 
Baggage room Sala de equipajes ^a/z-lah day &k--wt-pah- 

hes. 

Baggage agent Agente de equipajes A\i-hejt-iay day ek-we- 

pah-he.?,. 

Baggage Equipaje Ek-we-^a/z-he. 

Trunk Baul Bah-ooL 

Valise Maleta Mah-/ay-tah. 

Hat box Sombrerera Som-bray-ri2j/-rah. 

Check Talon Ta\].-lon. 



238 



Dining room Comedor Kom-may-(^(9r. 

Toilet room Retrete Ray-Zroy-te. 

Without change Sin cambio Seen kam-\)e.o. 

No transfer Sin trasbordn Seen trass-(^(?r-do. 

A. M Per la manana Por lah man-jvz/z-nah. 

P. M Por la tarde Por lah /ar-day. 



Schedule Itinerario 

Conductor Conductor 

Sleeping-car conductor. . . -Conductor de coche dor- 

mitorio. 

Porter Portero 

Engine Maquina Mack-e.-n3.\i. 

Engineer Maquinista Mack-in-^-sta. 

I wish to go to — Quiero ir hasta — Kee-^r-o eer as-tah 



E-tm-a-r^zr-re-o. 
Kon-dook-i'(9r. 
Kon-dook-/£'r day ko-tcha-y 

door-me-/^-re-o. 
Por-/^r-o. 



What time does the train 

start? 
How many miles from 

here to — ? 
When will I arrive? ,; 



At what hour does the 
next train leave ? 

How much is the cost of a 
ticket from here to B.? 

How much is the cost of 
a return ticket ? 



iA que hora sale el tren?. . Ah kay ^-rah sally el 

tren? 
Cuantas millas de aqui Kwahn-tahs niee-ya's, day 
, hasta — ? ah.-kee as-X.'&Si — ? 

A que hora llegare? Ah kay ^-ra 1-yay-gah- 

ray ? 
Ah kay c-ra sally el 

prox-^-nxo tren ? 
Kwahn-X.o coo-^.f-ta con 
bo-/«y-to day ah-ket; ah 
B.? 
Kwahn-X-O coo-es-ta. oon 
bo-/ay-to day e-da e 
wel-X.a. ? 
Por kwahn-X.o tee-<?w-po 
es ■z/^Z-e-do el ho-lay- 
to? 
iCuanto equipaje es V\kixt'i . Kwahft-X-O ek-we-/cr//-he 

es lee-hx&l 
iCuanto cuesta por exceso?A"wrt;/z;z-to coo-^.y-ta por 

ek-(:^55-o? 

Per hundred pounds? ^Por cien libras? Por .y^^-en /<?^-brahs? 

Per fifty kilos? ^Por cincuenta kilos? Por sink-w^/z-ta kee-\o?,&'i 



How long 
good ?. 



the ticket 



A que hora sale el pro- 
ximo tren? 
iCuanto cuesta un boleto 
de aqui a B.? 

iCuanto cuesta un boleto 
de ida y vuelta? 

^Por cuanto tiempo es 
valido el boleto? 



How much baggage free ? . 

What is the cost for ex- 
cess? 



In Town and at the Hotel. 

ENGLISH. SPANISH. PRONUNCIATION. 

Hotel Hotel O-tel. 

Have you any rooms vacant ?iTieneVd. cuartos vaci6s?Tee-«z-ne oo-staid kwar- 

tose vas-se-^.?^'? 

Have you a good room? ^Tiene Vd. un cuarto Tee-^z-ne oo-staid oon 

bueno? kwa7--\o hoo-ahi-o. 

I want two rooms Quiero dos cuartos Kee-^r-o dose kwar-tose. 

Room Cuarto A'war-to. 

Bath Bano Bati-yo. 

Another bed Otra cama . . . 0/z-trah ^(W«-ah. 

In the hotel En el hotel En el o-tel. 

Give me my bill Deme Vd. mi cuenta. . . .Z^crj'-may oo-staid me cu- 

^;z-tah. 



239 

Give me my receipt Deme Vd. mi recibo Day-m.a.y oo-staid me re- 

see-ho. 

Bring me some water Traigame agua Trah-ee-gah-fne ah-gwa. 

Bring me some hot water Traigame agua caliente . Trah-^'^-gali-;;?^ ah-gwa 

cal-ly-,??z-te. 
Bring me some letter paper . . Traigame papel de cartasTrah-(?^-gah-;;z(? pah-^<?/ 

day ^ari-as. 
Bring me a pen and some ink . Traigame una pluma y Trah-ee-gah-me oon-ah 

tinta. p/oo7n-ah. e ^gen-tah. 

Bring me some envelopes . . . Traigame cubiertas Trah.-ee-gah.-me koo-be-^r- 

tahs. 

Towels Toallas To-a/-yas. 

Soap Jabon Yla-bon. 

Matches Cerillos Seh-r^^/-yos. 

Candle Candela Kan-day-\a. 

Lamp Lampara Lamp-a-xa. 

Ice Hielo Yai-\o. 

Beer Cerveza Ser-vay-za. 

How much shall 1 have to i Cuanto habre de pagar Kwa/m-to ah-dray day 
pay to the washerwoman? d, la lavandera? pah-£-ar ah la lav-an- 

^^•r-ah ? 

I want a washerwoman Ouiero una lavandera. . . Kee-er-o oo-nah lav-an- 

; der-ah. 
At whathour will you comeP-iAque hora vendra Vd?.A Aay o-ra ven-drak oo- 

siaid} 

Street Calle Ki-ye. 

Palace Palacio Pal-ai'-see-o. 

Church Iglesia E-^/oy-see-ah. 

Cathedral Catedral Ca\.-&h-draL 

School Escuela Es-koo-(2z-lah. 

College Colegio Col-^'Z-he-o. 

Cemetery Cementerio Sem-en-/^r-e-o. 

Prison Cd.rcel Kar-sel. 

Store Tienda Tee-^;z-da. 

Market Mercado Mer-cah-do. 

House Casa Kak-za. 

Call me very early Despierteme muy tem- Des-pe-^r-ta-me moo-e 

prano tem-pran-o. 

Call me at 7 o'clock Despierteme a las siete . . Des-pe-<?r-ta-me ah lahs 

see-rt'z-te. 

Take my baggage down Lleve Vd. mi equipaje Lyai-wo. 00-siaid me ek- 

abajo. wt-pah-he a-bah-ho. 

How much is my bill? ^Cuanto as mi cuenta?. . .Kwahn-io es me coo-&x\X.a'^ 

I want to pay my bill Quiero pagar mi cuenta. Kee-^r-o Y>^-gar me coo- 

en-ta? 

What time is it? iQue hora es? Kay o-xa ais? 

Send me a messenger Envieme un cargador... .En-vee-^/z-me oon car-ga- 

dor. 

Carriage Coche Ko-tchay. 

Coachman Cochero K.o-cher-o. 

How much for one hour? ^ Cuanto por una hora? ..Kwahn-to por oo-xxaki 

f -rah ? 
How much to the station?. -i Cuanto hasta la estacion?A'wfl/^;z-to as-laSx lah es- 

tah-see-£>;2 ? 



240 

Where are you going? i A donde va Vd? Ah don-dy vah oo-staid? 

Go straight ahead Vaya derecho Vah-yz. day-rc7_y-tcho. 

Go faster Vaya mas rapido Vah-ys. mass rap-^-diO. 

Go slower Vaya mas despacio Vah-ya. mass des-^a^-seo. 

Stop Parese Vd. ! /"ar-asy oo-staid. 

Right Derecho Day-rd-j-tcho. 

Left Izquierdo Ees-quee-^r-do. 

Before Deiante Day-/rt:;z-teh. 

Behind Detras T)3.y-tras 

North Norte Nor-tscy. 

South Sur Soor. 

East Este iT^-tay. 

West Oeste Wes-tay. 

Postoffice Correo Kor-ray-o. 

Letters Cartas Kar-tas. 

Postage Stamps Timbres 7>^?;z-bres. 

Envelopes Cubiertas Koo-be-<fr-tas. 

Registered letter Carta registrada ....... .A'ar-tah reh-his-Zra-da. 

Have you any letters for me? ^TieneVd. cartas para mi?Tee-rt'z'-ne oo-staid /'ar-tahs 

/rt;r-ra-me ? 
At what hour does the mail <;A que hora sale el tren. A kay <7-rah sally el tren 

train leave for — ? correo para — ? 'k.ox-ray-o par-ah — ? 

Letter box Buzon Boo-zon. 

Shop Talk. 

ENGLISH. SPANISH. PRONUNCI.ATION. 

Have you any Tiene Vd. — ? Tee-ai-ne oo-staid. 

I want to buy Quiero comprar Kee-^r-o cova-prar . 

Have you others Tiene Vd. otras? Tee-az-ne oo-staid 

c-trahs. 

I want another Ouiero otra Kee-^r-o t>-trah. 

How many Cuantos Kwahit-tose. 

Silk Seda Say-dah. 

Wool Lana La/i-nah. 

Cotton Algodon A\.-go-do)i. 

Linen Lienzo Le-^«-zo. 

Have you anything better . . .Tiene Vd.algunacosamejor?.Tee-az-ne oo-staid al- 

^^oo-na co-sa mai-hor. 

I want this Ouiero este Kee-^r-o ^.v-tay. 

Send this to Envie Vd. esta A En-ve-^/z oo-staid es- 

ta ah. 

Large Grande Gratt-day. 

Small Poco Po-co. 

New Nuevo Aoo-ev-o. 

Old Viejo Ve-d-Zz-ho. 

Bad Malo • AIah-\o. 

Pretty Bonito Bo-;ztY'-to. 

Cheap Barato Bah-r^/z-to. 

Dear Caro Kar-o. 

Very dear Muy Caro Moo-o. kar-o. 

Narrow Angosto An-_i,'<?.>r(!.'-to. 

Wide Ancho A.n-tvho. 

Collar Cuello Coo-/?/-yo. 



241 

Gloves ..Guantes. IVajt-tez. 

Handkerchiefs Panuelos Pan-yu-az-lose. 

Shoes '• Zapatos Zap-a^ose. 

Pins Alfileres Al-fee-/az-res. 

Needles Agujas A-^,£7^-has. 

Thimble Dedal Day-da/. 

Thread Hilo £-]o. 

Ribbon Liston Lees- fone. 

Scissors Tijeras Tee-Ziat-ras. 

Veil Velo Vay-\o. 

Black Negro Nay-gro. 

White Blanco Blank-o. 

Red Rubio Roo-\)ee-o. 

Blue Azul h\i-sool. 

Pink Rojizo . Ro-A<?<?-zo. 

Green Verde ["^r^-de. 

Purple Purpureo Poor-/(wr-ay-o. 

Yellow Amarillo hm.-2.-reei yo. 

Long Largo Lar-go. 

Short Corto Cor-\.o. 

Thick Espeso Es-;^ay-so. 

Thin Delgado T)e\-gah-Ao. 

A yard Una vara Oo-na vat -2^. 

Howdoyousellitby theyard?iA como vende Vd. la vara? .A co-vao ven-A-a^y 00- 

staid lah var--^1 

General. 

ENGLISH. SPANISH. PRONUNCIATION. 

Good morning Buenos dias Boo-e;?-os dee-z.?,. 

Good evening Buenas tardes Boo-^«-as /^r-des. 

Good night Buenas noches Boo-^«-as «(?-tches. 

Sir Senor Sane-j/cr. 

Madam Senora Sane-j/^-ra. 

Miss Senorita Sane-yo-r,?^-ta. 

Thank you Gracias CJraA-see-as. 

How do you do? ^Como esta usted ? C^-mo es-tah 00-staid} 

Well, thank you Bien, gracias V>e-ehn, £-ra/t-see-as. 

And you? i Y usted? E oo-sfaid? 

Do me the favor Hagame V. el favor Ah-ga-me el fa-7/^r. 

If you please Si usted gusta See 00-staid ^ci^-stah. 

What do you want? iQue quiere usted? Kay kee-^r-e 00-staid} 

What is that? iQueeseso?.. Kay es az-so? 

What do you call this? iComo se llama eso? Ko-mo say ya^n-sh. ai-so? 

Do you know Sabe usted Sah-he\i 00-staid. 

What is the matter? iQuetiene? Kay tee-az'-ne? 

Pardon me Perdoneme Per-don-a-me. 

As soon as possible Tan pronto como posible . . Tan pron-to ko-mo pos-^- 

bleh. 

I will come again Vendre otra vez Yen-d?'ay (9-trah vace. 

Which is the way to — ? • iCual es la via para — ?. . .Kwahl es lah w^-ah par-a? 
Show me the way to — . . .Enseiieme Vd. el camino Y.n-sane-ySii-xne el cz.m-ee- 

de — no day — 

What is your name? ^Que es su nombre de Vd.?Kay es soo no7n-hre day 

~ 00-staid? 

lOr, Como se llama Vd.?. C(?-mo say \-yam-3, 00-staid? 



242 

I am ready Estoy listo 'Es-/oy lees-lo. 

I am well Estoy bien Es-/(?j' he-ehn. 

Bring me Traigame Trah-^-ga-me. 

Very well Muy bien Moo-t he-e/in. 

Let us go Vamos Vam-ose. 

It is late Es tarde Es far-dy. 

It is early Es temprano Es tem-pra/i-no. 

Sit down Sientese Vd See-^«-ta-seh oo-staid. 

Go in Entre Vd ^;z-tray oo-staid. 

Come in Entre ^«-tray. 

Go away Vaya Iuih-y2i. 

Good bye Adios Ah-de-f?^^. 

Yes Si See. 

No No No. 

Do you speak English? . . .;Habla Vd. ingles? .Tf//-bla oo-staid ing-/,?5? 

I speak It a little Hablo un poco Ah-\y\o oon po-co. 

What do you say? i Que dice Vd. ? Kay dee-s,z.y oo-staid? 

Where is — ? ^Donde esta — ? Don-ddiy &s-tah — ? 

Where does he live? i Donde vive el ? Don-d,z.y vee-veh el? 

Doctor and Medicine. 

ENGLISH. SPANISH. PRONUNCIATION. 

I am sick and want a Estoy enfermo y quiero £s-toy en-/ere-mo e kee- 

doctor. un medico. ere-o oon j/ied-e-ko. 

Will you go to look for a Quiere Vd. ir d buscar Kee-^'r-e ir ah doos-ca.i oon 

doctor. un medico. 7f2ed-i-ko. 

I want a doctor who Quiero un medico que Kee-^r-o oon m^d-e-ko kay 
speaks English. hable ingles. ad-lay een-^/ess. 

Is he a good doctor? <;Es buen medico?.' Es boo-en fned-e-ko? 

Where is the drug store?. -^ Donde esta la botica?. . . .Don-dv es-ta/i lah ho-tee 

ka?' 
Take this prescription to Lleve Vd. esta receta a Lyai-ve/i oo-staid ^.y-sta 

the drug store. la botica res-aj'-tah ah la bo-/^i?- 

ka. 
What is the matter with iQue tiene Vd.? Kay tee-az-ne oo-staid? 

you? 

I have headache Tengo dolor de cabeza. . . . Teng-o do-lor day ca-vay- 

za. 

I have toothache Tengo dolor de muelas. . . . Teftg-o do-/or day moo-rt;z- 

las. 

I have stomachache Tengo dolor de estomago. . Teiig-o do-lor day &s-tom- 

ago. 

I have earache Tengo dolor de oido Teng-o do-tor day o-^<?-do. 

I have a cold Tengo un resfriado Teng-o oon res-free-(7/z-do. 

I have fever Tengo tiebre Teng-o fee-^rZ-bre. 

How are you?. ......... .^Como esta Vd.? Ko-mo es-ta/t oo-staid? 

I am better Estoy mejor Ks-toy may-Yior. 

I am worse Estoy peor Y.?,-toy pay-ox. 

Quinine Quinina Kee-;;i?^-na. 

Chloroform Cloroformo Cloro-_/tfr-mo. 

Calomel Calomel Calo-met. 

Castor Oil Aceite de castor As-i^j-e-tay day cas-tor. 

Pills Pfldoras /"z7-do-rahs. 



243 

Capsules - Capsulas Ca^-soo-lahs. 

Salts Sales <, 6'i3:/-ehs. 

Morphine Morfina Mor-/^if-nah. 

Laudanum Laudana Za/z-oo-dah-na. 

Porous plaster Parche poroso Far-ichaj por-£>-so. 

Plaster Emplasto or Parche Em-//a^-to or Par-tchay. 

Mustard plaster Sinapismo Se-nah-^^(?j-mo. 

Aconite Aconito Ah-con-e-to. 

Belladonna Belladona Bel-yah-^/(i>;z-ah. 

Nux Vomica Nuez Vomica JVoo-es ■z/t^-mi-ca. 

Glycerine Glicerina Glee-cer-^-nah. 

Arsenicum Arsenico Ar-i-ay-ne-co. 

Tonic Tonico To-ne-co. 

Table and Meals. 

ENGLISH. SPANISH. PRONUNCIATION. 

The bill of fare ■ La lista Lah /^^-sta. 

A plate Un plato Oon plat-o. 

A glass Un vaso Oon vaz-o. 

A teaspoon Una cucharita (9(?-na coo-tchar-^^- 

tah. 

Coffee Cafe Kaf-^oy. 

Coffee and milk Cafe con leche Kaf-/a>' con lay- 

tchee. 

Tea Te Tay. 

Tea and milk Te con leche Tay con /aj-tchee. 

Milk Leche Zoy-tchee. 

Cream Crema AVay-mah. 

Sugar Azucar PCn.-zoo-\z.\ . 

Chocolate Chocolate Chock-oV^Z-e. 

Beef tea Un caldo Oon cal-Ao. 

Lemonade Limonada Lee-mo-;z«^-da. 

Beer Cerveza Ser-z/ay-sa. 

Wine Vino Vee-no. 

Claret Vino tinto Vee-xva teen-io. 

Ice Hielo Yai-\o. 

Bread Pan Pahn. 

Butter Mantequilla Manty-z^^'^Z-ya. 

Water Agua y^^-wah. 

Ice water Agua con hielo Ag-wz. con yai-\o. 

Soup Sopa So-^ah. 

Fish Pescado Ves-cah-do. 

Oysters Ostiones Os-te-wz-es. 

Rice Arroz Ar-roce. 

Eggs Huevos IVaz-Yoce. 

Fried eggs Huevos fritos IVaz'-voce /ree-toce. 

Hard boiled eggs Huevos duros JVaz-voce doo-roct. 

Soft boiled eggs Huevos pasados por agua. . IVai-voce. pa-.5'i3;/z-doce 

por ahg-v^ah. 
An omelet Una tortilla de huevos Oo-na tor-/^if/-ya day 

wai-vos. 
Beef Vaca Fa/z-ka, 



244 

Roast beef Vaca asada Va/t-ka. ah-sa/i-da. 

Boiled Hervido Er-7/^<?-do. 

Meat Carne Aar-nay. 

Beefsteak Beftek Bef-tek. 

Steak and potatoes Beftek con papas Bef-tek con pap-as. 

Rare Poco asado Po-ko ah-^a/z-do. 

Well done Bien asado Be-<?;z ah-^a/z-do. 

Mutton Carnero Y^ax-nere-o. 

Mutton chops Costillas de carnero Kos-/^^/-yahs day 

kar-;Z(?r(?-o. 

Cutlet Chuleta Choo-/«;j'-ta. 

Veal cutlet Chuleta de ternera Choo-/«j-ta day ter- 

nere-z.. 

Lamb Cordero Y^ox-dere-o. 

Pork Puerco Poo-,?ri?-ko. 

Bacon Tocino Ho-see-no. 

Ham Jamon Wa-nione. 

Fat meat Carne gorda Aar-nay ^isr-da. 

Lean meat Carne magra Kar-xiay mah-gx'A.. 

Pepper Pimienta Pee-mee-^;z-ta. 

Salt Sal Sal. 

Oil Aceite Ah-.yajj'-tay. 

Vinegar Vinagre N &&-nah-gxQ. 

Mustard Mostaza Mos-Za^'-ah. 

Sauce Salsa 6"a/-sah. 

Vegetables Legumbres \^&-goom-\>x&s. 

Potatoes Papas Pap--&h?,. 

Fried potatoes Papas fritas Pap-ahs free-\.a.5. 

Beans Frijoles Free-//f -les. 

Peas Chicharos C/zi?^-char-ose. 

Lettuce Lechuga . . 'La.y-chu-ga.. 

Cabbage Col Col. 

Tomatoes Tomates To-;«a/-es. 

Cauliflower Coliflor <Zo\-t-flor. 

Garlic Ajo Ah-\\o. 

Radishes Rabanitos Rah-ba-«^£'-tose. 

Chicken Polio Pole-yo. 

Turkey Pavo Pa/i-vo. 

Ice Cream Helado A-lah-Ao. 

Cheese Oueso Kay-so. 

Fruit Fruta Froo-Va. 

Strawberries Fresas />aj'-sahs. 

Grapes Huvas Cc-vas. 

Oranges Naranjas Nar-r««-kas. 

Bananas Platanos /'/aZ-a-nos. 

Lemons Limones Lee-wiS'-nes. 

Figs Higos j5"-gose. 

Table Mesa May-sa. 

Chair Silla Seel-ya. 

Napkin Servilleta Ser-z'<?<!.-/-yet-a. 

Fork Tenedor T^Vi-^-dor. 

Knife Cuchillo Qoo-chccl-yo. 

Spoon Cuchara Qoo-tcJiar-aYi. 

Teaspoon Cucharita Coo-tchar-<f,?-tah. 



245 



Chronological. 



ANNO DOMINI. 

648 — The Toitecs arrived in Anahuac. 
105 1 — They abandoned the country. 
1 1 70 — The Chicimecs arrived in Mexico. 
iig6 — The Mexicans reached Tula. 
1200 — The Alcouans arrived. 

1325 — The Mexicans founded Tenochtitlan or the City of Mexico. 
1428^ — Foundation of the Aztec kingdom. 
1 43 1 — Enthronement of Netzahualcoyotl, King of Texcoco. 
1485 — Cortez born at Medellin, Spain. 
1502 — Montezuma II. enthroned. 
1504 — Cortez left Spain for Cuba. 

1510 — Great tidal wave on Lake Texcoco overflows Tenochtitlan. 
1511 — Turrets of the great Aztec temple burned. 

Spanish ship wrecked on the Island of Cozumel. 
15 16 — Death of Nezahualpilli, the Tezcucan King. 
1517 — March 4, discovery of Yucatan by Cordoba. 
1518 — May I, departure of Grijalva from Cuba for Mexico. 

November 18, Cortez sailed from Santiago. 
1519 — February 10, Cortez sailed from Habana. 

March 20, Cortez landed at the mouth of the Tabasco River. 

April 21, Cortez landed at Vera Cruz. 

August 16, commenced the march to the City of Mexico. 

September 23, Cortez entered Tlaxcala. 

November 8, Cortez entered the City of Mexico. 
1520 — July I, Cortez driven out of City of Mexico. Noche Triste, the " Dismal Night." 

July 8, battle with the Mexicans at Otumba. 
1521 — August 13, re-entry of Cortez into the City of Mexico. 

Establishment by Spain of the rule over the new province by a governor. 

Cortez established the seat of government at Coyoacan. 

Establishment of the first Christian church in the New World at Tlaxcala- 
1524 — First church commenced on the site of the present Cathedral. 
1525 — Hanging of Tetlepanquetzaltzin by Cortez. 
1526 — September ig, Bishopric of Puebla established, seat at Puebla. 
1528 — Establishment of the government under the Audencia. 
1529 — July 6, Cortez made Marques del Valle de Oaxaca. 
1530 — Guadalajara founded. 
1531 — December 9, vision of the Virgin of Guadalupe to Juan Diego. 



246 

1531 — December 12, Juan Diego gathered the flowers from where the Virgin 
stood. The feast of Guadalupe. 

July 25, Oueretaro became a Christian city. 
1533 — Toluca founded. 
1535 — The first Viceroy arrived in Mexico. 

June 2, Bishopric of Oaxaca estabhshed, seat at Oaxaca. 

First printing press brought to the country and first book printed in Mexico. 

Maravatio founded. 
1536 — August 29, corner stone of the Cathedral at Puebla laid. 
1539 — March 19, Bishopric of Chiapas established, seat at San Cristobal. 
1541 — May 18, Valladolid, now Morelia, founded. 
1542 — San Miguel founded. 

1545 — January 31, Archbishopric of Mexico established, seat at City of Mexico. 
1546 — September 8, discovery of silver at Zacatecas. 

1547 — December 2, Cortez died in the town of Castelleja de la Ouesta, in Spain. 
1548 — January 20, Zacatecas was founded. 

July 31, Bishopric of Guadalajara established, seat at Guadalajara. 
1550 — Second Viceroy's term commenced. 

1552 — First inundation of the City of Mexico, and the dyke of San Lazaro built. 
1553 — University founded. 

Silao founded. 
1557 — Guanajuato founded. 

The Patio process for the amalgamation of silver invented by Bartoiome 
de Medina at Pachuca. 
1562 — August 15, Bishopric of Yucatan established, seat at Merida. 
1568 — English driven off the island of Los Sacraficios near Vera Cruz. 
1570 — August 16, first Inquisitor General appointed, and the Inquisition established 
in Mexico. 

Celaya founded. 
1573 — Corner stone of the Cathedral laid. 

1574 — Twenty-one Lutherans burned by order of the Inquisition. 
1576 — Leon founded. 
1583 — San Luis Potosi founded. 
1586 — An English ship captured near Acapulco. 

1587 — Sir Francis Drake captured a Spanish ship with a rich cargo, off California, 
1596 — Monterey founded. 
1600 — The City of Monterey founded. 

1603 — Building of the Aqueduct of Chapultepec commenced. 
1604 — Church on the Pyramid of Cholula dedicated. 

1607 — November 28, the great drainage canal, Tajo de Nochistongo, commenced. 
1615 — Foundation and walls of the Cathedral completed. 
1618 — Cordoba founded. 

1620— September 28, Bishopric of Durango established, seat at Durango, 
1623 — Cathedral placed under roof. 



247 

1626 — First service in the Cathedral. 

1629 — Great inundation of the City of Mexico. 

1634 — Subsiding of the waters of the inundation of the Plain of Mexico. 

1643 — Salvatierra founded. 

1649 — April 10, fifteen persons burned by order of the Inquisition. 

April 18, Cathedral at Puebla consecrated. 
1660 — A colony of a hundred families settled in New Mexico. 
1667 — December 22, dedication of the Cathedral. 

1678 — May 2, Church of Santa Maria los Angeles at Churubusco completed. 
1691 — Conquest of Texas. 
1692 — Pensacola, Fla., founded. 

Building of the National Palace commenced. 
1709 — May I, completion of the Church of Guadalupe near City of Mexico. 
1722 — January 19, opening of the first theatre in Mexico. 

The first newspaper, Gaceta de Mexico, published in Mexico. 
1724 — February 4, completion of the Palacio del Ayuntimiento or City Hall. 
1741 — First effort to collect historical data, under a Royal Order of Philip V., 

dated June 19. 
1760 — The first regular army organized in Mexico. 

Houses numbered in the City of Mexico. 
1767 — Jesuits expelled from Mexico by Royal Order, dated January 15. 
1770 — A fleet sailed for Spain with a cargo of thirty millions of silver dollars. 
1776 — February 25, establishment of the Monte de Piedad or national pawn shop. 
1777— December 25, Bishopric of Linares established, seat at Monterey. 
1779— May 7, Bishopric of Sonora established, seat at Culiacan. 
1789 — Arrival of the famous Viceroy, Conde de Revillagigedo. He appointed a 

police force in the City of Mexico, lighted and paved the streets. 
1791 — Completion of the towers of the Cathedral. 
1795 — Cession of Florida, west of the Perdido River, to France. 
1802 — August 4, casting of the bronze statue of Charles IV., at 6.00 a. m. 
1803 — December 9, statue of Charles IV. unveiled in the Plaza Mayor. 

Humboldt traveled in Mexico. 
1810 — September 16, Hidalgo sounded \h& grito of Mexican Independence. 

October 30, Battle of Las Cruces. 
181 1 — January 16, Hidalgo defeated at the Bridge of Calderon. 

May 21, Hidalgo captured at Acatita de Bajan. 

June 26, Allende, Aldama and Jimenez executed. 

July 31, Hidalgo executed at Chihuahua. 
1812 — Evacuation of Cuautla by Morelos. 
1813 — September 14, meeting of the first Mexican Congress at Chilpancingo. 

November 6, First formal Declaration of Mexican Independence. 

December 23, defeat of Morelos. 
1814 — February 3, execution of Matamoras at Morelia. 

October 22, proclamation of the first Constitution at Apatzingan. 



248 

iSi5 — December 22, Morelos executed by order of the Inquisition. 

1S20— May 31, suppression of the Inquisition in Mexico. 

1 82 1— Promulgation of the Plan of Iguala and the colors of the Mexican flag. 

August 2, Puebla taken by Iturbide. 

September 27, Iturbide entered the City of Mexico. 
1822 — February 24, first Congress of the Mexican Nation assembled.. 

May 19, Iturbide elected emperor. 

Iturbide and his wife anointed and crowned in the Cathedral of Mexico. 

December 6, a Republic proclaimed by Santa Ana at Vera Cruz. 
1823— July 14, Iturbide shot at Padilla. 
1824 — October 4, Constitution proclaimed. 

October 10, First President of Mexico inaugurated. 

November 7, Second Mexican Congress. 

Statue of Charles IV. taken down and removed from the Plaza Mayor to the 
patio of the University. 
1825 — January i, First Constitutional Congress assembled. 

During this year the last Spanish soldier left Mexico in the evacuation of 
the Island of San Juan de Uliia. 
1829 — A Spanish force landed at Tampico in July. 

September 11, Spanish invaders defeated and captured by the forces under 
Generals Santa Ana and Mier. 
1835 — Rebellion of Texas under Sam Houston. 

1836 — December 28, Spain formally recognized the Republic of Mexico. 
1837 — August 22, first concession granted for a railway between the City of Mexico 

and Vera Cruz. 
1840 — April 27, Bishopric of Lower California established, seat at La Paz. 
1846 — April 24, first skirmish of the American War. 

May 8, Battle of Palo Alto and May g, Resaca de la Palma. 

May 13, General Taylor crossed the Rio Grande at Matamoras. 
- September 26, Monterey captured. 
1847 — February 23, Battle of Buena Vista. 

February 28, Chihuahua occupied. 

March g, General Scott landed at Vera Cruz. 

March 27, Vera Cruz captured. 

April 18, Battle of Cerro Gordo. 

May 25, Puebla occupied by the Americans. 

August g, General Scott entered the Valley of Mexico. 

August 20, Battles of Padierna and Churubusco. 

September 8, Battles of Casa Mata and Molino del Rey. 

September 12 and 13, storming and capture of Chapultepec. 

September 13, capture of the Garita de Belem and San Cosme. 

September 15, entry of the Americans into the City of Mexico. 
1848 — February 2, conclusion of peace and signing of the Treaty of Guadalupe, 
Hidalgo. 



249 

1850 — June I, Bishopric of Vera Cruz established, seat at Jalapa. 

1851 — President Arista inaugurated. 

1852 — Statue of Charles IV. placed in its present position. 

1853 — Santa Ana, proclaimed dictator of Mexico. 

1854 — August 30, Bishopric of San Luis Potosi established, seat at San Luis Potosi, 

1855 — Comonfort elected President. 

1856 — June 25, decree ordering sale of church real estate by President Comonfort. 

September 16, suppression of the Franciscan monks. 
1859 — July 12, proclamation of the Laws of the Reform, by President Juarez. 
1861 — July 17, passage of the law suspending payment on bonded debt of the 
Republic. 
October 31, adoption of the Treaty of London by England, France and Spain. 
Arrival of the allied fleet at Vera Cruz, in December '61 and January '62. 
1862 — January 26, Bishopric of Oueretaro established, seat at Oueretaro. 
Bishopric of Leon established, seat at Leon. 
Bishopric of Zamora established, seat at Zamora. 
Bishopric of Zacatecas established, seat at Zacatecas. 
February ig, Treaty of La Soledad signed. 

May 5, brilliant battle at Puebla and repulse of the French by the Mexican 
Genei'al Zaragosa. 
1863 — March 6, suppression of all religious orders in Mexico. 

March 16, Bishopric of Tulancingo established, seat at Tulancingo. 
Bishopric of Chilap3, established, seat at Chilapa. 
Archbishopric of Michoacan established, seat at Morelia. 
Archbishopric of Guadalajara established, seat at Guadalajara. 
May 17, Puebla captured by the French. 
June g, French troops occupied the City of Mexico. 

July 10, Assembly of notables called in the City of Mexico, and the crown 
tendered to Maximilian, the Archduke of Austria. 
1864 — June 12, Maximilian crowned Emperor of Mexico. 

1865 — October 3, Maximilian published a decree declaring all persons in arms 
against the Imperial Government bandits, ordering them executed. 
October 21, Generals Felix Diaz, Arteaga, Salazar and Villagomez shot at 

Uruapam as bandits under Maximilian's decree. 
November 6, the United States, through Secretary Seward, sent a dispatch 
to Napoleon III, protesting against the presence of the French army in 
Mexico as a grave reflection against the United States, and notifying him 
that nothing but a Republican would be recognized. 
1866 — April 5, Napoleon withdrew his support from Maximilian. 

November, Napoleon ordered the evacuation of Mexico by the French troops. 
1867 — The last of the French troops leave Mexico in February. 
April 2, capture of Puebla by General Porfirio Diaz. 
April II, he defeated Marquez at San Lorenzo. 

May ig, capture of Oueretaro, surrender of Maximilian to Gen. Escobedo. 
June ig, execution of Maximilian, Mejia and Miramon. 



250 

1867 — June 21, capture of the City of Mexico by General Porfirio Diaz. 

July 15, Juarez entered the City of Mexico and re-established his government. 
1869 — September 16, completion of the Mexican Railway to Puebla. 

October 4, Bishopric of Tamaulipas established, seat at Victoria. 
1871 — December i, Juarez re-elected President. 
1872 — July 18, death of President Juarez. 

December i, election of President Lerdo. 

December 20, completion of the Mexican Railway in the meeting of the 
tracks above Maltrata. 
1873 — January i, opening of the Mexican Railway between the City of Mexico 

and Vera Cruz. 
1874 — Incorporation in the Constitution of the Laws of the Reform. 
1875 — December 5, opening of the National Exhibition of Mexican products, in 

the City of Mexico, 
1876 — January 15, commenced the revolution under the plan of Tuxtepec. 

November 24, General Porfirio Diaz entered the City of Maxicoat the head 
of the revolutionary army and was proclaimed provisional president. 
1877 — May 6, General Diaz declared Constitutional President. 
1878 — Concession granted for the building of the Interoceanic Railway. 
1879 — June 24, execution of nine revolutionists against the Diaz government, at 

Vera Cruz. 
1880— May 25, Bishopric of Tabasco established, seat at San Juan Bautista. 

September 25, election of General Manuel Gonzalez as President. 

Track laying on the Mexican Central commenced. 

October 14, construction of Mexican National Railroad commenced. 
1882 — November 25, Sonora Railway opened. 
1883 — The " Nickel Riots" occurred. 

March 15, Bishopric of Colima established, seat at Colima. 
1884 — March 8, completion of the tracks, and on April 5 opening of the Mexican 

Central Railway from El Paso to the City of Mexico. 
1885 — February, some Americans arrested for breaking twigs from the tree of 

Noche Triste. 
1886— Completion of Mexican National Railroad to Morelia and Patzcuaro. 

December i, re-election of General Porfirio Diaz to the presidency. 
1888 — April 17, completion of the Mexican Central to Guadalajara. 

March i, completion of the Internation;il Railroad, Eagle Pass to Torreon. 

November i, completion of the Mexican National Railroad, from Laredo 
to the City of Mexico. 
1889 — Construction of the Mexican Southern Railroad commenced in September. 
1892 — November 11, opening of the Mexican Southern Railroad. 
1893- -Completion of the Interoceanic Railway to Vera Cruz. 

1894 — March i, first party of American tourists visited the Ruins of Mitla, under 
escort of the American Tourist Association. 

Completion of the Tehuantepec Railroad. 
r895 — Completion of the Mexico, Cuernavaca &: Pacific Railway to Cuernavaca. 



251 



INDEX 



PAGE 

Acdmbaro 89 

Agriculture 1 1 

Aguas Calientes- . ■ 91 

Alameda, La 66 

Altitudes of Cities 228 

Altitudes of Mountains 10 

Amecameca 93 

Amusements 41 

Anahuac 18 

Apam, Plain of 10, 187 

Apizaco 188 

Apostles of Mexico 56 

Aqueducts 69 

Arbeu Theatre ■ . 42 

Around the Capital 75 

Assembly of Notables 26 

Atotonilco 154 

Atzcapotzalco 79 

Audencias, The. 19 

Baggage 29 

Bajio Region 175 

Barranca 109 

Barranca del Infernillo 189 

Baths 37 

Benevolent Society 64 

Bergantines 19. 49 

Bishop's Palace 121 

Boca del Monte 189 

Bocas 206 

Bolson de Mapimi g, 173 

Buena Vista, Battle of 25 

Bufa, Cerro de la 10 

Bull Fights 42 



PAGE 

Cabs 31 

Cacahuamilpa 103 

Calendar Stone 52 

Calazadas 68 

Campanas, Cerro de las 27 

Cargadores 36 

Carlotta 147 

Carmen Church at Celaya 96 

Carriages 31 

Casa Mata, Battle of 25 

Catacombs at Guanajuato 112 

Cathedral, City of Mexico 53 

Cathedral, Durango 105 

Cathedral, Guadalajara 108 

Cathedral, Morelia 124 

Cathedral, Puebla 144 

Catholic Society 64 

Catorce 95 

Celaya 96 

Cequauhtzin, Legend of 86 

Cerro de la Bufa 174 

Cerro de las Mitras 121 

Cerro de la Silla 120 

Cerro Gordo 200 

Chac-Mol 53 

Chalco, Lake • . - 10 

Chapultepec 75 

Chapala, Lake 9 

Charles IV., Statue 70 

Chihuahua 97 

Chinampas 80 

Cholula, Pyramid of • 145 

Cholula, Massacre 18 

Choy Cave 186 



PAGE 

Chronological 245 

Churches, City of Mexico 54 

Church of the Leaning Tower 60 

Church Visiting 36 

Churubusco, Battle of 25 

Churubusco, Town of ']'] 

Cigars 34 

Circo-Teatro Orrin 42 

Cities and Towns 89 

City Government 50 

City of Mexico 47 

Climate 31 

Clothing 31 

Coaches, Hackney 31 

Coast II 

Coatepec Valley 116 

Cofre de Perote 116 

Colegio, Durango 105 

Colegio de la Paz 65 

Columbus, Statue of 71 

Commercial College 64 

Congress 23 

Conquest of Mexico 18 

Conquest, Standard 18 

Conservatory of Music 63 

Contreras 2ig 

Convents 62 

Cordoba qg 

Corona, Don Juan 81 

Cortez 18 

Cortez, Banner of 160 

Costumes 37 

Coyoacan "]•] 

Cuautla 100 

Cuernavaca 102, 221 

Cuincho, Hot Springs 124 

Cuitzeo, Lake g 

Customs regulations 2g 

Customs of the people yj 

Desierto, The. 82 

Diego, Juan, Vision of 83 

Diaz, President 28 



252 

P.\GE 

Discovery of Mexico 18 

Dismal Night 19 

Distances 30 

Doctors 35 

Dolores Hidalgo 206 

Dominicans - 58 

Dulces 37, 97 

Durango 103 

Eastward Over the hrteroceanic ig7 

Eastward Over the Mexican Ry 187 

Eastward to Tampico I7g 

Etla 217 

El Indio Triste 52, 217 

El Salto del Abra de Caballeros. . . . 182 

Encarnacion Bridge 174 

Entombment, The I3g 

Esperanza 188 

Eulalia, Santa, Mine 99 

Express Service 36 

Floating Gardens 81 

Flower Market 50 

Foreign Hospitals 64 

Forests 11 

French Intervention 26 

Fresnillo 173 

Grijalva, Landing of 18 

Grito of Independence. 85 

Guadalajara . 106 

Guadalupe near City of Mexico 83 

Guadalupe near Puebla 143 

Guadalupe near Zacatecas 168 

Guanajuato no 

Guarantees, The Three 22 

Guatemotzin 19 

Guatemotzin, Statue of 71 

Guaymas 226 

Hall of Ambassadors 51 

Hall oi the Monoliths 133 

Harbors II 



253 



PAGE 

Hermosillo 226 

Hidalgo 21 

Hidalgo Railroad 226 

Historical 17 

Historic Houses 72 

Horse Cars. 31 

Hospicio G_uadalajara 108 

Hospicio de Pobres 65 

Hospitals, City of Mexico 64 

Hospitals, Foreign 64. 

Hotels 32 

Hotels and Restaurants 229 

House of the Masks 72 

Houses of Note 72 

House of Tiles 73 

Huitzilopochtli Idol. 52 

Huixotla, Ruins of. 158 

Humboldt House 73 

Iguala, Plan of 22 

Iguatzio, Town of 141 

Inquisition, The ; 58 

International Railway igi 

Interoceanic Railway 197 

Irapuato 113 

Iron II 

Iron Mountain 195 

Iturbide 22 

Ixtaccihuatl, Height of 10 

Jalapa 114 

Jesuits 56 

Jilotepec 117 

Juanacatlan, Falls of • ... 12, 109 

Juan Diego, Vision of 83 

Juan Medina . 209 

Juan Panduro 109 

Juarez Monument 71 

La Barca g 

La Bufa 168 

La Cuna 65 

Lagos 117 



Laja, Canon of 207 

Lancasterian Society 64 

La Piedad 80 

Las Canoas 181 

Laundry 40 

La Viga Canal 80 

Law School 64 

Leon 118 

Lerdo 119 

Lerma River 210 

Linares 224 

Los Remedios 86 

Mahntzi 10, 188 

Maltrata 189 

Mantilla 38 

Manufactures 12 

Map Around the Capital .233 

Mapimi, Bolson de 9 

Maravatio 120 

Marfil no 

Marina, La 18 

Market, Flower 50 

Markets, City of Mexico 50 

Maximilian 26 

Measures 30 

Medicines 35 

Mescal 33 

Metlac Ravine 190 

Mexia 27 

Mexican Railway 187 

Mexican Central Railway 171 

Mexican National Construction Co .226 

Mexican Northern Railway 212 

Michoacan 141 

Michoacan & Pacific Railway 222 

Miguel, San 153 

Military 35 

Military Acaden:iy 'j^ 

Mines 11 

Mint, City of Mexico 51 

Mint, Chihuahua 98 

Miramon 27 



PAGE 

Mixcoac 77, 2ig 

Molino de Flores 158 

Molino del Rey, Battle of 25 

Molino del Rey 76 

Monclova 1 20 

Money 30 

Monks, Suppression of the 25 

Monte de Piedad 65 

Montemorelos 223 

Monterey 120 

Monterey & Mexican Gulf Railroad. 222 

Montezuma ig 

Montezuma's Bath 1 58 

Monuments, City of Mexico 70 

Moon, Pyramid. 187 

Moonstone 211 

Morelia 122 

Mountain, Altitudes 10 

Music 39 

National School of Fine Arts 52 

National Library 52 

National Museum 52 

National Palace 50 

National Pawnshop 65 

Netzahualcoyotl . . . 157 

Newspapers 73 

Nickel Riots 28 

Noche Triste 19-79 

Nochistongo 82 

Nogales 225 

Oaxaca 125 

Ocoyocac ........... .210 

Official Permits 40 

Opals 148 

Orizaba 1 34 

Orizaba, Peak of 116 

Orrin, Circus 42 

Otumba ig8 

Pacanda, Island of 141 

Pachuca 1 36 



254 

PAGE 

Palace, The Nation^,! 50 

Palo Alto 24 

Pant eon of Guanajuato 112 

Parras 192 

Paseo de Bucareli 68 

Paseo de la Reforma 82 

Paseo de la Viga 6j 

Paso del Macho • • . • igi 

Passion Play g3 

Pawnshop 65 

Patzcuaro 137 

Permits 40 

Piedad, La 80 

Plaza de la Constitucion 65 

Plaza Seminario 66 

Plaza de Toros 45 

Police 35 

Popocatepetl, Ascent of g4 

Portales, City of Mexico 50 

Post Office 36 

Postal Regulations 36 

Pottery of Guadalajara. 108 

Practical Matters 29 

Preparatory School 64 

Procession of the Banner 59 

Puebla 141 

Puebla, Cathedral of 144 

Puente de Dios 184 

Pulque 33 

Oueretaro 147 

OuetzalcoatI 53, 145 

Ouiroga, Bishop 141 

Railroads 12 

Railway Rides of Mexico 171 

Railway Tickets 29 

Real del Monte 136 

Reboso 38 

Reform, War of the 25 

Religious Orders of Mexico 56 

Resaca de la Palma 24 

Restaurants ^2 



Revolution, The 21 

Revillagigedo, Conde de 50 

Royal Nun 61 

Ruins of Mitla. 127 

Rurales 35 

Sacrificial Stone 52 

Sacred Mountain 93 

Sacro Monte 93 

Saddle Mountain 10 

Salm-Salm, Pnncess •. • I47 

Salon de Conceirtos 42 

Saltillo 149 

Salvatierra 1 50 

San Angel ']'] 

San Antonio, Church at Cordoba. . . . 100 

San Agustin, Church at Celaya 97 

San Agustin, Church at Durango ... 105 
San Francisco, Church at Celaya. . . 97 
San Francisco, Church at Durango. 105 
San Francisco, Church at Chihua- 
hua 99 

San Hipolito, Church at Cordoba. . . 100 

San Hipolito, City of Mexico 59 

San Juan Teotihuacan 82-187 

San Juan de Ulua, Island of 165 

San Luis Potosi 150 

San Miguel de Allende 153 

San Pedro 108 

Santa Ana 159 

Santa Catarina 122 

Santa Eulalia 99, 1 72 

School of Agriculture 64 

Schools and Colleges 63 

School of Medicine 63 

School of Mines 6^^ 

Sculptor, Indian 109 

See of Michoacan, The 139 

Servants 37 

Shopping 34 

Silao 154 

Silla, Cerro de la 120 

Sonora Railway 224 



255 

PAGE 

South Over the Mexican Central ... 171 
South Over the Mexico, Cuernavaca 

& Pacific 218 

South Over the Mexican National. .204 
South Over the Sonora Railway. . . .224 
South Over the Southern Ra^way. .212 

Standard of the Conquest 18 

Steamer Lines 16 

Stores 34 

Strawberries 113 

Street Car Lines 232 

Streets, City of Mexico 37, 73 

Sun, Pyramid of the 187 

Table-lands 10 

Tacuba 79 

Tacubaya 76 

Tehuacan 214 

Tajo de Nochistongo 20, 82 

Tampico 155 

Tapalo 38 

Teatro Principal 41 

Teatro Nacional 41 

Tehuantepec Railway 226 

Telegraph 36 

Tamasopo Canon 181 

Tenochtitlan 18, 47 

Tenochtitlan, Siege of 19 

Tequila 33 

Tetzcotzinco 158 

Texcoco 157 

Texcoco, Lake ■ 10 

Titian, Picture by.. 139 

Theatres, City of Mexico 41 

Theological Seminary 64 

Tlacolula 129 

Tlalnepantla 82 

Tlalpam 79 

TIaxcala 158 

Tobacco 34 

Toluca 161 

Tomellin 217 

Topo Chico 121 



256 



Torreon 193 

Treaty of Cordoba 22 

Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo 25 

Treaty of La Soledad 26 

Treaty of London 26 

Tree of tlje Noche Triste ig 

Tresguerras, Eduardo g6 

Tula 163 

Tule 



129 

Tule, The Big Tree of 129 

Twelve Apostles, The ^6 

Tzintzuntzan 9, 138 

L'nited States of r^Iexico 227 

Vera Cruz 165 

Viceroys ig 

Victoria 224 



War with United States 24 

Water-clock, Heavenly 61 

W^estward Over the International . . igi 
Westward from Acambaro 211 



Xicaca 158 

Xanicho, Island of 141 

Xaracuaro, Island of 141 

Xochimilco, Lake 10 



Yautepec 167 

Yturbide 221 



Zacatecas 168 

Zerapes 38, 149 

Zopilote, Canon of 208 



KEKERENCES. 

C'HCKCHtS. 

Aiiii,Sto 6 

Angustin Zuquipa, San o.i 

Antonio Abad, San ... 53 

Anionio el Pobre, San (■i 

Antonio Teplto. San . . 60 

AntouioTomatlan, San 59 

Balvanera, La 21 

Beleo (chapel) 63 

fklen de ios Padres. . 43 

Bernard.), San 3"> 

BetUniilas 31 

Bripido, Sta SS 

Cainilo, San (Senu- 

nario) 99 

Cainpo Florido 62 

Candelaria, La 65 

Caridad.Lo 64 

Camien, EI 17 

Calalinade Sena Sib. 32 

NCaUrina Martir, Pia 3 

_ij Clara, Sta . 33 

Colegio de Nin.is 40 

Concepdnn, La 19 

Concepclon, La(clipl.) 54 
Concepclon, La, de 

Tequisqiiepa(ch.). . 61 

Corpus Cliristi .1-^ 

Coeme, San 14 

Crut Acatian, Sta ... 11 

Crtiz y Soledad, Sla. . 1 

Diego, Son 16 

Domingo, Sto I .^ 

Encamacion, La 30 

En^enanza, Ln 2ti 

Fernando, San IB 

Franrisco, San ( Trot ) 1 

^ieronimo, San 23 

kGeronim", San (cbpl.) 68 



Verde, 




iHipolrto, San 114 

Hospital Real 69 

Inea, Sta. (Segrado 

Corazon) 45 

.Te.sua Mari.i 22 

J sua Nazareno 109 

•lose, San 6 

Jose de 6racia, San 

(Protestant) 25 

Jiiande Dios, San. ... Ti 
Juan de la Pvnitencla, 

San 34 

Lararo, Saa 71 

Lorenzo, San 24 

Loreto 38 

Lncas, San 47 

Maria de Ios Angeles. 

Sta 44 

Maris Ic Redonda, 

i^ta 9 

Miguel, San 2 

Monserrate 48 

Nicolas, San 67 

Pablo, San 10 

Pablo, S. (Hospital 

thapeli 46 

Falma, S. Tomas la. . o6 
Pedro S., and S 

P.ab1o 70 

Porta Coell 41 

Prof esa, I.a 36 

Regina Coeli 20 

Rolnita, I.a 66 

Rosario, EU 

eil" 
Salvs.lor el 

San 

Santiago TUItelolco. . 42 

Santisima, I^ 8? 

Sebastian, San 8 

Segrado Corazon (Sta. 

Inea) 
Semfoario (San C»- 

mUo) 99 

TIaxcoaqus . 49 

Taresala Aoligua. .Sta 26 

Tereaa la Nueva, Sia. 17 

Toniafi la Palma, Sto 56 

Trinidad (Protestant) 63 
Cruz, Sta. 



PtTBLIC BclLDItceS. 

(Vcademia ds Bellas 

Artes 103 

Adiiana 131 

Asilo de Mendi^os. .. 124 

Asilopsra NInoi 118 

Biblioteca Nacional . . 1 02 
Biblioteca del Cinco de 

Mayo 31 

Camara de Diputad'">f. r-i> 

Carcel do Belen 116 

Cas» da Correos 94 

Casade Matemidad. . 108 

Casa de Moneda 93 

Ciudadela 130 

Cole^io do S. Ilde- 

fonso 96 

Collegio del Seaiinario 99 

Cnna, La 107 

Dihgenclas Gonerales. 121 

Diputacion. 132 

Escnela de Comercio , 101 
Escnela de Medlcina 

(Ex fnquisitioB).... 9S 
Hospiclode Pobres... 106 
Hospital oel l>ivino 

Salvador 11.'' 

Hospital de Jesai 109 

•• Milltar 113 

*' de San Andrea. HO 
" deSan Hipollto 114 
'* de San Juan de 

Dios 72 

Hospital de San Pahlo 

(Juarez) 112 

Mineria, La 97 

Monte lie Piedad 95 

Mnfieo Nacional 92 

Palaciode Justi.ia .. 91 

P lacio Xacioi al 90 

Teatro Arbeu US 

•• Hidalsro ISS 

•* Nacional 119 

'• Principal 121 

UnlTertldad Antigua 104 

Vizcitnas 100 

RimwiT St AXIOMS. 
Inleroceank, San La- 

zaro P. 

Meztcsn (Vers Cri z) 

Baen» VisU G. 

Mexican Central, Bn- 

ensVtiU Q. 

Mexican National, Co- 

lonia Q. 









mi 



opTiii: 

CITi OF MEXICO. 



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CoiIb <lel KKotropi 



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Joe do era Saa 



Mb a d An^ 

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